The Draft: Moving Toward Equity

PRESIDENT NIXON'S demand last week for congressional action on his draft-revision bill was adapted from a scenario inspired by Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird. More than anyone else in the Administration, Laird worries about the possible consequences of the autumnal unrest planned by student anti-Pentagon groups. With the opening of school approaching, Laird recently counseled the President to apply pressure for passage of the draft-revision bill submitted to Congress last May. It may be too late to get action this year, but Laird figures that at least students will know that the Administration wanted to change the present inequitable draft system.

To highlight the Administration's concern further, Nixon announced that he was suspending draft calls for November and December. He said that the 29,000 already scheduled to be called in October would be spread out over the next three months. Nixon explained that the partial withdrawal of U.S. troops from Viet Nam was the reason for the cutback, and that in December, if all goes well, he would review the programmed January call-up for possible cuts. In overall figures, however, Nixon's announcement means only 5,600 fewer draftees in 1969 than last year.

Nixon has never utilized the arm-twisting powers of his office to force Congress into action--not even when his ABM system seemed in danger of defeat. But last week he said that "if Congress fails to act, we will take appropriate executive action" to amend the draft. Trouble is, the most important section of the Nixon bill--that calling for random selection of draftees--is prohibited by the 1967 draft law. It would take congressional action to change this.

The Nixon revision bill would:

> Draft the youngest first "so that a young man would become less vulnerable rather than more vulnerable to the draft as he grows older."

>Reduce draft vulnerability from seven years to one. Accordingly, young men would normally become eligible at 19. By the time they reached 20, they could be reasonably sure of being draft-free--unless there were a major emergency.

> Select names for the draft at random or by lottery. One of the year's 365 days would be picked from a fishbowl. Thus, if April 1 were the date drawn, all men age 19 who were born on that date would be draftable. If there were not enough to fill the quota, another date would be randomly chosen and the process repeated. Among other things, this plan eliminates the burden falling unfairly on those born early in the year. Presently, they are the first to be called.

>Give a temporary deferment to college students. Once graduated, they would be placed in the pool for one year and treated as if they were 19 years old.

> Defer graduate students until they have completed the full academic year. Under the present system, they are eligible for induction at the end of the term in which they are drafted.

One frequent criticism of the present Selective Service System is the freedom it allows the nation's 4,000 local draft boards. A federally controlled lottery system would change this, and the President has called for a report on the draft boards to be delivered in December. Perhaps, as Senator Jacob Javits has suggested, the caprices of local-board autonomy could be eliminated by establishing area and regional boards. Data-processing equipment would take the place of subjective judgments by local board members.

Nixon's draft reform bill is not new. In 1967, Lyndon Johnson submitted an identical proposal and similar changes have been called for by Senator Edward Kennedy. The Kennedy version, however, contains a triggering device that would end college deferments in time of war. Mindful of Viet Nam, Kennedy defined "war" to exist when a certain percentage of draftees have lost their lives in combat. The Nixon bill does not attempt to define what constitutes a war.

Both Laird and Nixon believe that General Lewis Hershey, the crotchety septuagenarian who directs Selective Service, should be removed. An adamant opponent of the lottery draft system, Hershey's inveterate hawkishness has made him a symbol to the young of all that is wrong with the draft. For his part, Laird believes that a military man should not head Selective Service. Yet Hershey has some powerful friends on Capitol Hill, so Nixon is likely to wait at least until his bill passes through Congress, if it does, before easing the petulant Hershey into retirement.

The final phase of Nixon's draft plan is aimed at 1972, when he hopes to do away with compulsory service altogether. At that time, the Selective Service Act of 1967 expires, and Nixon hopes to create a military of volunteers. There are strong arguments on either side of the proposal. There are those opposed who warn that it could create an elite corps of killers, dangerously isolated from the rest of American society. Those in favor of the volunteer scheme, by far the majority, claim with considerable reason that it would help cut military waste and rekindle pride in those who serve. Naturally enough, among those most enthusiastic about the idea are America's draft-age youth.

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