I was a senior at NC State and deeply (perhaps too deeply) involved in ROTC, when the draft took place. Like most of my fellow students, the night of the lottery, I was in the TV room watching and when my number came up as 110, I was actually happy I was in ROTC and would receive my commission the following spring. Our student brigade commander, a friend who I had been with in ROTC since our freshman year, drew one of the much later numbers, and immediately resigned from ROTC as a "conscientious objector". Another close friend drew 180 and thought he was fairly safe. As it turned out, he was the only one of the three of us to actually make it to Vietnam. After graduation, when I went to officer basic, we were told if you do not volunteer to "vol indef" (extended tour), you would definitely go to Vietnam. Well, I had already planned on extended duty to go into missiles, and ended up spending my active career at the missile school in Huntsville, AL. After active duty, I spent a few years in various levels of command in the National Guard, commanding those who had volunteered to avoid the draft. It was an interesting experience dealing with "soldiers" who had no desire to be there, and were actually there only because of the lottery.
