I was an advanced Army ROTC cadet at the University of Georgia majoring in Pharmacy which was a 5 or 6 year program (1965-1971). Having finished my ROTC course work in 1969, I did not attend any ROTC classes my last 2 years at Georgia, so I never went to the ROTC building.
I had attended ROTC summer camp at Ft. Bragg, NC in 1968 and was committed to enter the army once I graduated and finished my internship. I entered the army in July 1972 as a regular army officer with an MOS of 3318, Pharmacy Officer.
I distinctly remember the 1969 lottery and was very pleased to hear that my number was 310, but that was of little concern since I had already committed to enter the service.
In the fall of 1970, I was called by the ROTC department at Georgia and told to come by the ROTC building at the request of one of the instructors. He explained to me that if I didn’t graduate soon, I would be dismissed from the ROTC program and put back in draft eligible status. I explained to him that I was a Pharmacy student and that I would graduate in 1971.
He was arrogant with his comments to which I replied "my draft number is 310, so I don’t have a problem with that". He didn’t say anything but his attitude changed toward me and he became more civil.
I don’t know what possessed me to respond that way; I just did. I had planned to make the army a career, but only served a little over 3 years at Fort Benning, Georgia before resigning my commission. Life for a Medical or MSC officer at Fort Benning left a lot to be desired. If you were not infantry, you were not considered part of the real army.