UPDATE: Did Ron Paul lie about being drafted?
(NOTE: There is an update to this update at the bottom) I published an essay in December asking if Ron Paul lied about being drafted, and in spite of all my research the issue continued to bother me because he’s made additional references to being drafted since that debate. So, I kept looking and digging.
Here is the relevant Wikipedia entry for Congressman Ron Paul:
He then served as a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force from 1963 to 1965 and then in the United States Air National Guard from 1965 to 1968.
Now, I have been told by some Ron Paul supporters that Congressman Paul received his draft notice and was then given the option to join the Air Force as a flight surgeon as opposed to entering the Army under the draft as an enlisted man. But that didn’t ring true to me either. So, I kept digging.
It turns out that Air Force personnel numbers dropped consistently from 1962 through 1965, the period in which Congressman Paul claimed to have been drafted, from 884,025 to a low of 824,662, which made it unlikely, to me anyway, that the Air Force had a need to use the draft for any reasons. But unsatisfied and knowing that decreasing numbers can mask different personnel shortages in certain critical areas, I kept digging.
Also keep in mind that in my original essay I included a link to an article that referenced a report published for the White House in 1970 that stated the U.S. Air Force never used the draft to conscript personnel.
Bearing in mind that Congressman Ron Paul repeatedly claims to have been drafted in 1962 and began his Air Force service in 1963 as the Wikipedia entry shows, I contacted the Air Force Public Affairs Office and asked the relevant questions. Below is the email I received from the Air Force today (in total):
Mr. Bussey,
The U.S. Air Force does not draft personnel. The draft was and is a function of the Selective Service System established by the Selective Service Act of 1917.
We do not have information indicating a draft of flight surgeons, per se; however, to help meet the FY 1964 procurement objective for physicians of 1,332, the Selective Service System issued Draft Call No. 33 in April 63 designed in part to furnish the Air Force with approximately 300 physicians. The measure provided that physicians who had been issued induction orders and allocated to the Air Force would be ordered to extended active duty during July-September 1963. The Air Force received 309 physicians under this program. (Emphasis added)
Very respectfully,
Captain Matthew Stines III
Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs (SAF/PAO)
Media Officer, Press Desk
Commercial: 703-695-0640, DSN 671-0640
Main: 703-695-0640, DSN 225-0640
1690 Air Force Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20330
matthew.stines@pentagon.af.mil
Ron Paul’s entrance does seem to coincide with the timeframe in which doctors began serving pursuant to Draft Call No. 33; however, as you can see from the email, that draft call was issued in 1963 and Ron Paul claims to have been drafted in 1962. Clearly that can be explained as a “misspeak” but I’ll bet every single man out there who was drafted can remember the exact day they received their draft notice, much less the year, and it would easily roll off the end of their tongue.
But, I guess at the end of the day, it is entirely possible – although not likely by Congressman Paul’s own timeline – that he was drafted. But in the interest of truth and facts I have to get this information out there because it contradicts other information that I reported earlier – the official report prepared for the White House in 1970 – and I want to be absolutely as accurate as possible.
What really bothers me is the implication Ron Paul is making that he was drafted “during Vietnam” by nebulously referencing the 60’s and the draft when in fact, as I’ve written, despite the fact we had troops in Vietnam in the 1950’s the first combat troops were not deployed until 1965, when Ron Paul switched from the active duty Air Force to the Air National Guard.
Anytime a man references being drafted “in the 60’s” it is a clear reference to Vietnam or the possibility of being deployed to Vietnam when that was clearly not the case with Ron Paul.
The decision is yours.
UPDATED to the UPDATE:
This is from Ron Paul’s official campaign website and says nothing about being drafted:
Ron Paul was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Gettysburg College and the Duke University School of Medicine, before proudly serving as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the 1960s.
Ron Paul’s entire military service only rates part of one sentence. But, notice the reference to serving in the military “during the 1960s.” What comes to mind when you read that? Vietnam, the same thing that comes to mind when referring to being drafted in the 60s as he did during the debate?
Here is a comment I found at another website concerning Ron Paul and the draft:
Paul went on to attend Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C. During his second year of residency in Detroit, Paul got a letter from the Selective Service. He could be drafted into the Army as a “buck private,” or join as a physician and receive an officer’s commission.
“I volunteered immediately,” he says, chuckling.
I can’t substantiate the information quoted by the website concerning Ron Paul’s quoted comment but the rest of the information at the site appears accurate. Notice how they say Paul “got a letter from the Selective Service. He could be drafted into the Army …” Well hell’s bells, anyone “could be drafted” and getting a letter saying that is a far cry from getting a draft notice and actually being drafted! And this information, my friends, is from what appears to be a pro-Ron Paul website.
January 17th, 2012 at 5:30 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22Mj7z3VHGs
This will help you out… straight from the horses mouth.
HOWEVER, I think that cross checking minutia in search of marginal inconsistency is a waste of time. It has a name: cynicism.
Not that people never lie, mislead or fake, but usually the person who assumes this in people ends up having a warped perception of the world.
January 17th, 2012 at 6:53 pm
Well, it isn’t minutia when dealing with a man who is racking up quite a history of not telling the truth, such as the need for a formal declaration of war before going to war. That isn’t a difference of opinion because it is easy enough to google and see that the founders themselves who wrote and implemented the Constitution went to war at least 4 times without a congressional declaration of war and they should know the “rule of law” under the Constitution better than anyone. And the lies about why we are being attacked by Islamic extremists. As I’ve written before our first war – undeclared – was against the Barbary Pirates (in 1801 to 1805) – Islamic Terrorists charging tribute for Islam and then there was the second Barbary War, neither of which had anything to do with us running around “bombing everyone.”
It isn’t minutia for a man – me – when my family military history dates back to 1775 and America has never fought a major war without a member of my family in the military. The draft is not minutia for my great-uncle who was drafted and killed in WW I, my uncles who were drafted in WW II, or my father who served 30 years, my father-in-law who served 20 years, for me who served 20 years, my brother who served 12 years or my son who is serving now and has already had one tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Lying about the draft – as Congressman Paul appears to have done – is not a small issue or “minutia,” especially, as I said, since he is now stacking up quite a record of hycocrisy, half-truths, revisionist history and more.
Lying about military service, the draft, medals, units, specific battles, etc are very important issues.
February 3rd, 2012 at 1:53 pm
Dear Mr. Bussey,
Thank you for your efforts to get to truth. When dealing with Ron Paul you have discovered that is no small task. I agree with you in entirety, I served in the USAF during the times Mr. Paul eludes to and I was unaware of ANY draft into the USAF or for that matter during 1962 NO draft into the Army that I am aware of. If as some of your critics say this issue is Minutia, then why does Ron Paul himself seek out any obscure reason to bring it up in the debates. It is like his claim that he is overwhelmingly preferred by military persons. I’m sure you are aware of the truth in that regard. Like you, I have a son now serving and he has spoken to many of his brothers in arms and finds that Ron Paul supporters are in an extreme minority. In fact he finds about two in ten that support Obama and he finds less than one in ten supporting Ron Paul.
I don’t want to take up anymore of your time, I will leave you with Hoo-Rah!!
SSGT L.R.Speaker
2/63 — 2/67
February 11th, 2012 at 9:57 pm
Was Ron Paul drafted? Did he deliberated wiggle out of being an Army buck private by taking a flight to the Air Force?
Personally, President Obama’s service to the military is a subject that is more of a concern to me. I’m so concerned about Obama’s service to the military, that I worry about our brave servicemembers, not to mention our military’s ability to maintain our nation’s ability to defend America. Obama’s service is comparable to the way that a rapist “services” his victims.
Thanks to many of those who lack the abilty to vote intelligently, we are currently saddled with the worst president in American history.
I could go on and on, but I’ll spare you my further ranting.
As Sean Hannity would say, “Sir, You are a good American.”
April 13th, 2012 at 10:49 am
You are an asshat – Ron Paul served, he was drafted, but since he was an MD he was able to practice medicine as a Captain, if he volunteered.
Find something else to worry about douche bag!
May 2nd, 2012 at 4:46 pm
It sounds to me like you are trying to make something out of nothing. This is a man who stands up for OUR constitution NO MATTER WHAT. The fact that you are badgering and trying to make something out of him being drafted is naive and just plain embarrassing. As a 8 year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. And my life on the line… I can assure you that this is the only presidential candidate that means what he says, and practices what he preaches. I’ve done two tours in Iraq, and one in Afghanistan while in the marines – I can assure you, all my fellow soldiers want Dr. Ron Paul as their true commander and chief. I’ve had friends that have died in my arms because of this “undeclared” war. I can assure you that the words written in that constitution are there for a reason. It’s hard to swear to protect it, while your own commander & chief is DISOBEYING IT. Find something else to worry about. We want Ron Paul. -M. Haynes USMC.