>> The reasons I was asking is the mandatory draft at that time, all men had to sign up, so Carson used the ROTC for this purpose <<
Two points:
1. Carson’s ROTC service was in high school. That was a totally different situation from Bill Clinton’s attempting to use ROTC membership at the University of Arkansas to get a draft deferment.
2. I don’t think Carson was an ROTC student during his university days. But it wouldn’t seem to matter for purposes of the current discussion, because after he got to Yale, I think Carson was eligible for a student deferment until such deferments ended in 1972. Alternatively, he may simply have lucked out with a good lottery number.
>> and then used that maybe to go into medical school with paid education? <<
The draft was replaced with the all-volunteer concept in 1973 — just about the time Carson was entering med school. So the chance of being drafted probably was not a factor in his choice of career path.
Ok well that clears up some stuff....thank you!