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Comment by b_tterc_p | Hacker News Reader

Vaguely related question. Should a draft begin, and you’re not keen on shipping out to the front lines. What could you do to avoid that that isn’t illegal? Say I have a lot of experience in something that I would think the military would make better use of like ML. Is the move to sign up pre emptively to do that? Or would you assume to be assigned to such a role if capable?

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Probably your best bet, given that there’s no college loopholes or similar, is to work for a DoD contractor like Lockheed. Active Duty doesn’t need ML experts (and active duty has little control over their assignments, so you’ll just as likely be configuring networks on the front lines.)

Be the average american male who is too fat and medicated to serve, or be in a skilled job that is important to the war effort.

Do keep in mind that 90% of the jobs in the military aren't fighting on the front lines so chances are, you would be some support clerk.

Poor vision, as well, is becoming a serious problem for recruitment.

I believe if you volunteer, you have more input into where you're assigned, and if you have a valuable non-front-line talent that would factor in as well. So if you can't find some way to avoid it entirely, then I think volunteering before you're drafted would serve best.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientious_objector

You can also pursue higher education.

I don't have answers for what choices you have once you've actually joined the military.

You could become a conscientious objector, and it’s even possible to get out of the military this way (my father did).

Unfortunately, the Selective Service does not recognize conscientious objectors when there is not a draft so it’s hard to get that status now.

The selective service certainly recognizes conscientious objectors! They mark them for "special attention" [1]

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali#Vietnam_War_and_r...

They do, but it's only possible to apply for CO status when drafted. You can not become a CO when registering with selective service. https://www.sss.gov/consobj I know because I tried.

Bone spurs

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