MILITARY CLASSIFICATIONS
- The 1971 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1971 season.The 68th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the defending World Series and American League (AL) champion Baltimore Orioles and the National League (NL) champion Pittsburgh Pirates.The Pirates won in seven games. Game 4 in Pittsburgh was the first World Series game.
- In 1966, the military lowered its draft eligibility standards, and Ali was reclassified as 1-A by the Local Board No. He responded by filing the Special Form for Conscientious Objector.
- Contact American Stock Transfer And Trust customer service. You can call American Stock Transfer And Trust at (718) 921-8124 phone number, write an email, fill out a contact form on their website www.amstock.com, or write a letter to American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, 6201 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, 11219, United States.
The first Vietnam lottery, held on December 1, 1969, brought with it many changes to prior Selective Service System procedures and protocols. This event determined the order of call for induction during calendar year 1970. Note: The 1-Y classification was abolished December 10, 1971. Local boards were subsequently instructed to reclassify all 1-Y registrants by administrative action. 2-A – Registrant deferred because of civilian occupation (except agriculture). 2-AM – Medical specialist deferred because of critical community need involving patient care.
For Draftees
compiled by Anne Yoder, Archivist,
SwarthmoreCollege Peace Collection
WORLD WAR I
[From Selective Service Regulations, 1917 (see Subject File: Conscientious Objection/Objectors -- Government Documents)]
* Conscientious Objectors: any registrant found by his Local Board to be a member of any well-recognized religious sect or organization organized & existing before May 18, 1917, & whose existing creed or principles forbade its members to participate in war in any form, & whose religious convictions were against war or participation therein in accordance with the creed or principles of said religious organization, were to be furnished with a certificate by said Local Board stating that he could only be required to serve in a capacity declared by the President to be noncombatant. He would, however, be classified as any other registrant was.
| I | Liable to military service in the orderdetermined by the national drawing |
| II | Temporary (dependency) discharge from draft; effective until Class I in the jurisdiction of the same Local Board was exhausted; registrants with both wife & children, or any father of motherless children, where such wife & children were not mainly dependent upon the registrant’s labor for support; also, registrants whose wives could support themselves through employment |
| III | Temporary (dependency) discharge from draft; effective until Classes I & II in the jurisdiction of the same Local Board was exhausted; registrants who were responsible forchildren not their own & who were dependent on registrant’s labor for support; registrants who had aged, inform or invalid parents or grandparents mainly dependent on registrants' government employees |
| IV | Temporary (dependency) discharge from draft; effective until Classes I, II & III in the jurisdiction of the same Local Board was exhausted; any married registrant whose wife or children were mainly dependent on registrant’s labor for support; also included mariners employed in sea service |
| V | United States (officers & enlisted men) |
WORLD WAR II [through 1947?]
[From Selective Service Regulations. Volume Three. Classification & Selection, 1940 (see Subject File: Conscientious Objection/Objectors -- Government Documents); also 'Memorandum Of the Rights Of Conscientious Objectors Under the Draft Laws As Of December 1, 1942' (see Subject File: Conscientious Objection/Objectors -- U.S. Sources, 1942)]
* all males between the ages of 18 & 65 were required to register for the draft; those who became 18 after January 1, 1943 were to register on their 18th birthday
| I | Available for service |
| I-A | Available; fit for general military service |
| I-A-O | Conscientious objectors eligible for military service in noncombatant role |
| I-B-O | Conscientious objectors available for limited service [not used after Aug. 18, 1942] |
| United States | |
| I-E | Students fit for limited military service; available not later than July 1, 1941 |
| II-A | Men necessary in their civilian activity |
| II-B | Men necessary to national defense |
| II-C | Men necessary to farm labor |
| III | Deferred because of dependents |
| III-A | Men with dependents, not engaged in work essential to national defense |
| Conscientious objectors available only for civilian work of national importance | |
| IV-E-LS | Conscientious objectors available for limited civilian work of national importance |
| IV-E-H | Men formerly classified in IV-E or IV-E-LS, since deferred by reason of age |
| IV-F | Men physically, mentally or morally unfit |
SELECTIVE SERVICE ACT OF 1948
| IV-E | Conscientious objectors opposed to both combatant & noncombatant military service [all to be given statuatory deferments] |
UNIVERSAL MILITARY TRAINING AND SERVICE ACT, 1951 [AS A RESULT OF THE KOREAN WAR]
In 1950, the CCCO published Conscientious Objectors Under Selective Service, with this advice: 'C.O.'s opposed only to combatant military service, but willing to accept non-combatant military service in the Army, should fill in I-A-O unless they have other basis for deferment. C.O.'s opposed to to all military service, both combatant and non-combatant, should fill in IV-E, regardless of any other basis for deferment' (p. 12). See also the 1951 revised handbook.
In 1952, the CCO published its Handbook for Conscientious Objectors [there were many later editions], with this list (p. 11-13):
| I-A | Available for military service |
| I-A-O | C.O. available for non-combatant duty/service |
| I-C | Member of the armed forces |
| I-D | Member of an organized reserve unit of the armed forces or student in approved officer procurement program |
| I-F | Physically, mentally or morally unfit |
| I-O | C.O. opposed to both combatant and non-combatant military duty and available for assignment to civilian work |
| I-S | High school student under twenty years of age, I-S (H), or college student who has received an order to report for induction, I-S (C), and is deferred to complete his school year |
| I-W | C.O.'s in assigned civilian service. Upon satisfactory completion of civilian service, C.O.'s are classified I-W (R) until past the age of liability for the draft, when they are reclassified as V-A |
| II-A | Deferred because of essential civilian employment, except agriculture or study |
| II-C | Deferred because of essential agricultural employment |
| II-S | Deferred for study |
| III-A | Deferred because of dependents; includes registrants with wife and child [see page 12 for details] |
| IV-A | Registrant with sufficient credit for World War II military duty. Sole surviving son of family with one or more sons or daughters who died in line of duty or result of such duty in the armed forces |
| IV-B | Officials deferred by law |
| IV-C | Aliens |
| IV-D | Ministers and full time students preparing for the ministry under the direction of a recognized church or religious organization |
MARCH 1, 1962 REVISED CLASSIFICATIONS
[See NSBRO reference files re: the Selective Service System, Series I-1; also Handbook for Conscientious Objectors (11th ed.) by the CCCO, Sept. 1970, for more details on ages of draftees, etc.]
* Some of the deferments listed were not available to new applicants by 1970
| I-A | Available for combat service | ||
| I-A-O | Available for noncombatant service | ||
| I-C | Members of the active armed forces, or commissioned officers in Environmental Science Service Administration or Public Health Service | ||
| I-D | Member of reserve unit of the armed forces, or student taking military training | ||
| I-O | I-S | I-W | “At Work” conscientious objectors [once I-O registrants were assigned to civilian work, they were then reclassified I-W by their local draft boards] |
| I-Y | Unqualified for duty except in time of declared war or national emergency | ||
| II-A | II-C | Agricultural deferment | |
| II-D [I-D?] | Deferment for members of military reserve units, or students taking advanced ROTC | ||
| II-S | III-A | Dependency deferment [deferred because of having a child or childre with whom he maintains a bona fide family relationship; deferred because of extreme hardship to dependents] | |
| IV-A | IV-B | Certain officials / elected officials deferred by law | |
| IV-C | Exemption for certain aliens [aliens not on permanent resident status who have not remained in the United States for more than one year; resident aliens who leave the USA; resident aliens granted relief from liability for military service] | ||
| IV-D | Exemption for ministers & divinity students | ||
| IV-F | Unfit for military service | ||
| V-A | Over-age [26 years old if never deferred; 35 years old for those who held a deferment / with 'extended liability'] |
IN EVENT OF A FUTURE DRAFT
[From Selective Service System website, April 2002: http://www.sss.gov/classif.htm]
* See http://www.sss.gov/FSconsobj.htm for SSS’s information about conscientious objector status & for more classifications
1 Y Sss Reclassified 1y 1971 Gm
| 1-A | Available immediately for military service |
| 1-O | Conscientious objectors opposed to both combatant & noncombatant military training & service; fulfills service obligation as a civilian alternative service worker |
| 1-A-O | Conscientious objectors opposed to training & military service requiring the use of arms; fulfills service obligation in a noncombatant position within the military |
| 2-D | Ministerial students; deferred from military service |
| 3-A | Hardship deferment; deferred from military service because service would cause hardship upon their families |
| 4-C | Alien or dual national; sometimes exempt from military service |
| 4-D | Ministers of religion; exempted from military service |
Student Postponements: a college student may have his induction postponed until he finishes the current semester or, if a senior, the end of the academic year. A high school student may have his induction postponed until he graduates or until he reaches age 20. Appealing a Classification: a registree may appeal his classification to a Selective Service Appeal Board.
_________________________________________________________
This page written 2007; updated in April 2011 and March 2014
SWARTHMORE COLLEGE PEACE COLLECTION
On Jan. 12, 1967 — 50 years ago on Thursday — Ali, formerly known as Cassius Clay, received word that not only had Local Board No. 47 reviewed his file and declined to reopen his classification, but the board agreed unanimously that he was not exempt from the draft via the ministerial exemption.
Two days before, the Kentucky Appeal Board had notified Ali that it had denied his conscientious objector claim, and he would be classified as 1-A.
1 Y Sss Reclassified 1y 1971 Value
Even though a hearing officer found Ali’s objection to be sincere the previous year, the U.S. Department of Justice recommended that his conscientious objector status be denied, and the Kentucky Appeal Board followed through with this recommendation. The Appeal Board for the Southern District of Texas, where Ali transferred his case after relocating, also rejected his ministerial exemption.
The legendary boxer, who died on June 3, 2016, made three different appeals to be excluded from the draft, citing his nonviolent Muslim faith, and all three were rejected. These decisions set in motion possibly the most important standoff of Ali’s career — the day he refused to be inducted into the military.
Ali appeared for the induction at Houston’s Military Entrance Processing Station, but when his name was called on April 28, 1967, he would not step forward.
Ten days later, a grand jury in Houston indicted him and the dominoes began to fall — state after state revoked his licenses to fight and his heavyweight title was stripped from him by the World Boxing Association.
“Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?” Ali asked.
Seven years earlier and soon after his 18th birthday, Clay had registered with the Selective Service on April 18, 1960. That same year, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the Summer Olympics in Rome and then became a professional boxer.
Because of unsatisfactory scores on the mental acuity test, he was classified as 1-Y — ineligible — in 1964. This was also the year Clay was catapulted into stardom by upsetting Sonny Liston and taking the WBA, World Boxing Council and lineal heavyweight titles. This was the final year Clay would go by his birth name as he converted to Islam and changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali.
In 1966, the military lowered its draft eligibility standards, and Ali was reclassified as 1-A by the Local Board No. 47. He responded by filing the Special Form for Conscientious Objector — Form 150 — on Feb. 28, 1966.
By filing this form, he had three requirements to meet: show that he was conscientiously opposed to “war in any form,” that his opposition was based on religious training, and that it was sincere.
A March 28, 1967, Chicago Tribune article reported: “Clay, 25, recently said that if going to war would help America’s Negroes ‘get freedom, justice and equality, you would not have to draft me. I would join.’ ”
IN EVENT OF A FUTURE DRAFT
[From Selective Service System website, April 2002: http://www.sss.gov/classif.htm]
* See http://www.sss.gov/FSconsobj.htm for SSS’s information about conscientious objector status & for more classifications
1 Y Sss Reclassified 1y 1971 Gm
| 1-A | Available immediately for military service |
| 1-O | Conscientious objectors opposed to both combatant & noncombatant military training & service; fulfills service obligation as a civilian alternative service worker |
| 1-A-O | Conscientious objectors opposed to training & military service requiring the use of arms; fulfills service obligation in a noncombatant position within the military |
| 2-D | Ministerial students; deferred from military service |
| 3-A | Hardship deferment; deferred from military service because service would cause hardship upon their families |
| 4-C | Alien or dual national; sometimes exempt from military service |
| 4-D | Ministers of religion; exempted from military service |
Student Postponements: a college student may have his induction postponed until he finishes the current semester or, if a senior, the end of the academic year. A high school student may have his induction postponed until he graduates or until he reaches age 20. Appealing a Classification: a registree may appeal his classification to a Selective Service Appeal Board.
_________________________________________________________
This page written 2007; updated in April 2011 and March 2014
SWARTHMORE COLLEGE PEACE COLLECTION
On Jan. 12, 1967 — 50 years ago on Thursday — Ali, formerly known as Cassius Clay, received word that not only had Local Board No. 47 reviewed his file and declined to reopen his classification, but the board agreed unanimously that he was not exempt from the draft via the ministerial exemption.
Two days before, the Kentucky Appeal Board had notified Ali that it had denied his conscientious objector claim, and he would be classified as 1-A.
1 Y Sss Reclassified 1y 1971 Value
Even though a hearing officer found Ali’s objection to be sincere the previous year, the U.S. Department of Justice recommended that his conscientious objector status be denied, and the Kentucky Appeal Board followed through with this recommendation. The Appeal Board for the Southern District of Texas, where Ali transferred his case after relocating, also rejected his ministerial exemption.
The legendary boxer, who died on June 3, 2016, made three different appeals to be excluded from the draft, citing his nonviolent Muslim faith, and all three were rejected. These decisions set in motion possibly the most important standoff of Ali’s career — the day he refused to be inducted into the military.
Ali appeared for the induction at Houston’s Military Entrance Processing Station, but when his name was called on April 28, 1967, he would not step forward.
Ten days later, a grand jury in Houston indicted him and the dominoes began to fall — state after state revoked his licenses to fight and his heavyweight title was stripped from him by the World Boxing Association.
“Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?” Ali asked.
Seven years earlier and soon after his 18th birthday, Clay had registered with the Selective Service on April 18, 1960. That same year, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the Summer Olympics in Rome and then became a professional boxer.
Because of unsatisfactory scores on the mental acuity test, he was classified as 1-Y — ineligible — in 1964. This was also the year Clay was catapulted into stardom by upsetting Sonny Liston and taking the WBA, World Boxing Council and lineal heavyweight titles. This was the final year Clay would go by his birth name as he converted to Islam and changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali.
In 1966, the military lowered its draft eligibility standards, and Ali was reclassified as 1-A by the Local Board No. 47. He responded by filing the Special Form for Conscientious Objector — Form 150 — on Feb. 28, 1966.
By filing this form, he had three requirements to meet: show that he was conscientiously opposed to “war in any form,” that his opposition was based on religious training, and that it was sincere.
A March 28, 1967, Chicago Tribune article reported: “Clay, 25, recently said that if going to war would help America’s Negroes ‘get freedom, justice and equality, you would not have to draft me. I would join.’ ”
1 Y Sss Reclassified 1y 1971 1
After a two-day trial, a jury convicted Ali on June 20, 1967, and he was sentenced to five years in prison and $10,000 fine — the maximum penalty.
1 Y Sss Reclassified 1y 1971
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Four years later, Ali would be vindicated by the U.S. Supreme Court, though it wasn’t an easy win by any means. Initially, reports came out that the Supreme Court voted to uphold Ali’s conviction, 5-3, with Justice Thurgood Marshall not participating.
After some consideration, Justice John Marshall Harlan changed his vote to strike down Ali’s lower court decision.
The debate was reignited, but a conclusion was reached on June 28, 1971, when the eight participating justices agreed Ali’s conviction should be tossed because the Justice Department had misstated a point of law in a letter to the Kentucky Appeal Board.
