What made Newt ineligible for the draft?

[Drex]

He cried his way past it

[FreeTraveler]

His head was too fat to fit in standard issue helmets.

That excuse won't work. They make 'em in extra-large.

[newbitech]

What made Newt ineligible for the draft?

I am looking at the classification table...
I don't see ineligible in there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4F_(mil...lassifications

Class	Categories (1948–1975)
1-A	Available for unrestricted military service.
1-A-O	Conscientious objector available for noncombatant military service only.
1-C	Member of the Armed Forces of the United States, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or the Public Health Service. (Enl.) Enlisted. Member who volunteered for service, (Ind.) Inducted. Member who was conscripted into service, (Dis.) Discharged. Member released after completing service. (Sep.) Separated. Member released before completing service.
1-D	Members of a reserve component (Reserves or National Guard), students taking military training (ROTC), or accepted Aviation Cadet applicants (1942–1961).
1-D-D	Deferment for certain members of a reserve component or student taking military training.
1-D-E	Exemption of certain members of a reserve component or student taking military training.
1-H	Registrant Not Subject to Processing for Induction. Registrant is not subject to processing for induction until a draft is enacted. All current registrants are classified 1-H until they reach the age of exemption. They then receive the classification of 5-A.
1-O	Conscientious objector to all military service. A registrant must establish to the satisfaction of the board that his request for exemption from combatant and noncombatant military training and service in the Armed Forces is based upon moral, ethical or religious beliefs which play a significant role in his life and that his objection to participation in war is not confined to a particular war.
1-O-S	Conscientious objector to all military service (separated). A registrant separated from the Armed Forces due to objection to participation in both combatant and noncombatant training and service in the Armed Forces. The registrant is still required to serve in alternative service.[46]
1-S (H)	Student deferred by statute (High School). Induction can be deferred either until graduation or until reaching the age of 20.
1-S (C)	Student deferred by statute (College). Induction can be deferred either to the end of the student's current semester if an undergraduate or until the end of the academic year if a Senior.
1-W	Conscientious objector ordered to perform alternative service.
1-Y	Registrant available for military service, but qualified only in case of war or national emergency. Usually given to registrants with medical conditions that were limiting but not disabling (examples: high blood pressure, mild muscular or skeletal injuries or disorders, skin disorders, severe allergies, etc.). Class was discontinued in December, 1971 and its members were reclassified as 4-F.
2-A	Registrant deferred because of civilian occupation (non-agricultural).
2-B	Registrant deferred because of occupation in a war industry: (Defense contractor or reserved occupation).
2-C	Registrant deferred because of agricultural occupation.
2-D	Registrant deferred because of study preparing for the ministry. Deferment lasted either until graduation or until the registrant reached the age of 24. Exemption was created in December, 1971. Previously considered part of Class 4-D.
2-S	Registrant deferred because of collegiate study. Deferment lasted either until graduation or until the registrant reached the age of 24. Exemption was discontinued in December, 1971.
3-A	Registrant deferred because of hardship to dependents.
3-A-S	Registrant deferred because of hardship to dependents (Separated). Current serving member or registrant undergoing induction separated from military service due to a change in family status. The registrant's deferment can last no longer than six months, after which they may re-file if the hardship continues to exist.
4-A	Registrant who has completed military service.
4-A-A	Registrant who has performed military service for a foreign nation.
4-B	Official deferred by law.
4-C	Alien or dual national.
4-D	Minister of religion.
4-E	Conscientious objector opposed to both combatant and noncombatant training and service. Alternative service in lieu of induction may still be required.
4-F	Registrant not acceptable for military service. To be eligible for Class 4-F, a registrant must have been found not qualified for service in the Armed Forces by a Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) under the established physical, mental, or moral standards. The standards of physical fitness that would be used in a future draft would come from AR 40-501.[47]
4-G	Registrant exempted from service because of the death of a parent or sibling while serving in the Armed Forces or whose parent or sibling has Prisoner of War or Missing In Action status.
4-T	Treaty Alien.
4-W	Registrant or conscientious objector who has completed alternative service in lieu of induction.
5-A	Registrant who is over either the age of liability (26) or (where applicable) the previous deferment age of liability (35)

[vechorik]

Too young? He was 25 in 1968.

Maybe he was talking about "too young" for WWII LOL

[giovannile07]

Dodgy Draft Claims

Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich tussled over Paul calling Gingrich a “chicken hawk” for not serving in the military during the war in Vietnam. Paul boasted that “I went when they called me up.” Gingrich suggested Paul was not telling the truth about Gingrich’s draft deferments.

The truth is, however, that Paul was an Air Force flight surgeon — not exactly front-line duty. And Gingrich’s stepfather, an Army man, has said his stepson’s flat feet and nearsightedness probably would have disqualified him from military service even if he had not been deferred as a student and father.

“I think people who don’t serve when they could and they get three or four or even five deferments, they have no right to send our kids off to war,” Paul said, adding that “at least I went when they called me up.”

Gingrich, who referred to himself as an “army brat” whose father served in that branch of the military for 27 years, said that Paul had a “long history” of saying inaccurate things. “The fact is, I never asked for a deferment. I was married with a child. It was never a question.”

Paul retorted: “When I was drafted, I was married and had two kids. And I went.” Gingrich counted: “I wasn’t eligible for the draft. I wasn’t eligible for the draft.”

At the time, Gingrich was in college and had a child. And though Gingrich didn’t mention it, he most likely would have been refused even if he had reported for a physical. A 1996 PBS “Frontline” documentary quoted Gingrich’s stepfather, Bob Gingrich — the Army veteran Gingrich talked about — saying: “He is very nearsighted. … He has two of the flattest feet that there ever was. He was never physically capable or qualified to be military.”

Gingrich attended Tulane University from 1966 to 1970, working on a Ph.D. in history. Gingrich said at the debate and earlier this week in New Hampshire that he got the deferment because he was a father. “I had two children during that period, I never asked for a deferment because during the period I was a father, and it was automatic,” Gingrich said, according to the Concord Monitor.

Paul said that he “was married and had two kids” when he was drafted, and he served.

Indeed, fathers, unless they were doctors, like Paul, had a much smaller chance of being drafted during Vietnam than men without children. According to a March 16, 1963, United Press International report, “President Kennedy … ordered the Selective Service deferment of all fathers except doctors, dentists and veterinarians.”

Paul’s website includes a bio written by his wife, Carol. She says they were married in 1957 and had two kids while Paul was attending medical school at Duke University. Paul later became a flight surgeon in the Air Force when he was called to duty.

From factcheck.org

http://factcheck.org/2012/01/mangled...in-manchester/

[Paul Fan]

Here is a link to Gingrich's selective service record including his registration card and classification status. http://webofdeception.com/gingrichselectiveservice.html

As this shows, he was eligible, but had a classification status that made it unlikely he would be called.

Because he was married and had dependents practically from the moment he became eligible, he may never have applied for student deferments.

As to his supposed "ineligibility" - there were only three reasons to be ineligible (besides age and citizenship) and they were mental, physical, and moral problems. The mental and physical ineligibility was determined by a test and physical that you took only after you were called up. http://ctveteranslegal.org/wp-conten...11/04/Ch-7.pdf I'm not sure if shortsightedness or flat feet would make you fail that test for sure, or only in some cases.

[liveandletlive]

well we have to concede Gingrich would have failed the physical, look at him

[klamath]

Really Newt but you have no problems sending single mothers without child care. When Soldiers asked about not having someone to care for their children if they deployed it was always "Tough luck, Get someone!" when I was in.

OAKLAND, CA (KGO) -- The U.S. Army is dealing with an emotional and complicated case involving an Oakland woman. She's a single mother, scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan, even though she has no one to care for her 11-month-old baby.


The woman is a 21-years-old single mom, who was almost on her way to Afghanistan. However, she is not the only one. A report released last month says 30,000 single mothers have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11.


For now 11-month-old Kamani Hutchinson is being cared for by his grandmother, Angelique Hughes of Oakland. A few days ago she flew to Savannah, Georgia after learning the Army had put Kamani in Child Protective Services.

"I was on the plane the next day," said Hughes.

Her daughter, Army specialist Alexis Hutchinson is stationed at Hunter Army Airfield at Fort Stewart in Georgia.

When Hutchinson was to be deployed to Afghanistan, she brought Kamani to live with grandma, but after a week, it was too much for Hughes.

She already cares for an ailing mother, a special-needs daughter and a sister who is scheduled to go into the hospital.

"So it's like I have to...I'm spreading myself thin and I deal with kids all day long, so I have not a break in between anywhere," said Hughes.

Hughes also does day care in her home.

Her daughter, a 21-year-old single mom couldn't find anyone else to care for Kamani and failed to show up for her plane to Afghanistan.

Rai Sue Sussman is an attorney who helps military men and women in similar situations. She says Hutchinson, with a friend by her side, turned herself in.

"The military police arrested her and wouldn't let her friend take her child and so they took him away and put him in Child Protective Services," said Sussman.

Hutchinson now faces a number of charges. Sussman listed them as: "AWOL, missing movement, desertion, failing to have a family care plane and disobeying an officer."

An Army representative spoke to ABC7 about the case.

"Because her case could present hardship, to not only to her child but her family, the command is working with her and her legal council to resolve this situation," said Kevin M. Larson with the U.S. Army.

In the meantime she will not be deployed.

"He's been taken away from his mother. By the time he actually sees his mother, he'll probably be 2-year- old. Will she even know who she is at that point in time? It's ridiculous," said Hughes.

According to the Army spokesperson, right now Hutchinson is not under arrest, but is confined to Hunter Army Airfield until this matter is resolved.

The military gives new moms four months to remain stateside before they are deployed to a war zone. Also, in the army, the divorce rate of female soldiers was three times higher last year than among male soldiers.


http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sec...bay&id=7118010

[LisaNY]

so factcheck.org says they are "Dodgy Draft Claims" because Ron wasn't on front-line duty? Are they serious?