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The Draft
The draft began on October 16, 1940. The US government required that all men between the ages of 21 and 35 register with their local draft boards for possible service. Three draft boards operated in Outagamie County.
The draft eventually targeted men as young as 18 and as old as 64. Outagamie County draft boards registered 23,351 men. Draft boards around the country registered 50 million men by the war's end.
Draft boards registered men and classified them into the following categories:
Class I: available for service
Class II: deferred because of an essential job
Class III: deferred because of dependency or hardship
Class IV: deferred because of age, health, or other factors
Draft boards considered deferments temporary and drew men from deferred classes when the government needed more soldiers.
Army requirements for male recruits included:
height of 5 feet
weight of 105 pounds
have at least half of his natural teeth
no flat feet
no hernia
no venereal diseases
literate (the Army waived this requirement by the war's end)
The average male draftee stood 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighed 144 pounds, had a 33 1/2-inch chest, a 31-inch waist, and wore a size 9 1/2 D shoe.
Army requirements for female recruits included:
height of 5 feet
weight of 100 pounds
2 years of high school
age 21 to 45
references
police check
childless
The government never drafted women. Women volunteered for the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC). The Corp became a full Army branch in 1943 and renamed itself the Women's Army Corps (WAC).
The average female soldier stood 5 feet, 4 inches tall, weighed 128 pounds, had a 26 1/2-inch waist, and wore a size 6-B shoe.
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