Certainly, also true in 1969. A draftee could go through Basic/AIT, Airborne School, and Vietnam and still have between 4-6 months still left when they returned from RVN. I was a no CIB 2LT amongst a bunch of combat veterans. The Army noticed and made sure that I got one.
LOL!! Yeah, they'll do that! CIB 2006
I was assigned to a transportation unit at Ft. Meade in 63-64. We prepared to transport soldiers from the 3rd Cav to D.C. and made a couple of recons to select offloading points. Trucks had top bows up with canvas rolled for ventilation and observation. Chicken wire was fastened on the sides to protect troops from larger projectiles. Left for RVN in 65 but never deployed to D.C.