Reviewed by: David Chen, CFA — Historical Data Specialist
Updated: October 2023 | Fact-checked for Historical Accuracy
The Vietnam Draft Calculator allows you to determine the lottery number assigned to a specific birth date during the 1970 Selective Service lottery. This historical tool helps veterans and historians understand the induction priority during the Vietnam War era.
Vietnam Draft Calculator
Vietnam Draft Calculator Formula:
The 1970 lottery was based on a random sequence of 366 days of the year (including Feb 29). The “formula” is a Random Sequence Assignment:
Priority(D) = Lookup(Historical_Sequence, BirthDate)
Variables:
- Birth Month: The month of birth for men born between 1944 and 1950.
- Birth Day: The specific day of the month used for the randomized drawing.
- Lottery Number (1-366): The priority sequence. Lower numbers (1-195) were highly likely to be drafted.
What is the Vietnam Draft Calculator?
The Vietnam Draft Calculator is a digital recreation of the 1970 Draft Lottery. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. government held a public lottery to determine the order in which men of draft age would be called into military service.
On December 1, 1969, 366 capsules containing birth dates were drawn by hand. The first date drawn, September 14, was assigned the number 001, meaning men born on that day were the first to be called.
How to Calculate Vietnam Draft Lottery (Example):
- Identify the birth year (The 1970 lottery applied to men born 1944-1950).
- Locate the birth date in the official 1970 Randomized Table.
- Example: If born on January 1, the assigned lottery number was 305.
- Since 305 is higher than the 195 cut-off, this individual was unlikely to be drafted in 1970.
Related Calculators:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
What draft numbers were actually called? For the 1970 lottery, men with numbers 1 through 195 were eventually called for induction.
Was the 1970 lottery truly random? Statistics later showed that dates late in the year were drawn more frequently for low numbers due to improper mixing of capsules.
Does the draft still exist today? No, the draft ended in 1973. However, men are still required to register with the Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday.
Can I use this for the 1971 lottery? No, this calculator specifically uses the 1970 drawing data, which was the most significant of the era.