In 1969 I was in the graduate program in Psychology at the University of Georgia. I had already been called by the selective service to have a physical at Fort Jackson in Columbia SC and had been classified I-A following that physical. The physical was completed in 1965 and I was led to believe that by being enrolled in college (graduate school) that my chances of being called up would be lower.
When they announced that they were going to utilize a lottery for draft purposes, I decided to take my chances with the new process. I believe there was a choice of leaving your paperwork in the traditional selective process or you could choose to add your name to the new "Lottery System". By letter, I applied to the selective service office in my hometown of Savannah to have my name added to the new draft and on the first drawing, my birthday came up on #358 out of 366 which effectively eliminated me from ever being drafted.
When I completed my Ph.D. at the University of Georgia in 1970, I contacted the United States Army about a program whereby you could enlist in the Army with a direct commission of 2nd Lt. in the Army’s Medical Corps – Mental Health Division. I submitted my application and was informed that I would be put on a waiting list and that it would be up to two years before an opening for someone with my training would come up again.
In the meantime, a job came open at Armstrong State College (now Armstrong Atlantic State University) in Savannah; I interviewed and was hired for faculty position from which I retired from in 2001 after 31 years. I have been in private practice in Savannah since 2001 and have worked very closely with a number of clients who are Army enlisted men who are referred for various reasons from Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Air Base. I often wonder how differently things would have turned out had I been drafted back in 1969.