What was the average profile for a US soldier in Vietnam in terms of age race education etc?

Answer 1

Young, male , and probably about 19 years old, with no more than a grade 12 education, and from a poor or rural family.

Well educated young men could avoid the draft by continuing their education and getting the "college deferment" from the draft board. Or they joined the National Guard and managed to keep from being sent overseas, by any means they could find, like the current President Bush did.

Actually, the above is a persistent myth. Certainly, the draft was unfair. However, it turns out that the average US enlisted solder was a bit over 20 years old, had a high school education, and was about average for the US (i.e. roughly average race distribution, and only slightly below true average socio-economic status). Now, those of better socio-economic and education status were more likely to be officers, so the "grunt" came out a bit more biased towards lower education and social status. However, the overall profile resembled American society as a whole quite well.

In addition, there's another context to be taken it account. The majority of draftees serving in Vietnam happened post-1965 (generally, 1967-1970) - that is, the profile of a US soldier in Vietnam prior to 1966 was very significantly different than post-1966. Prior to 1966, the majority of the US presence was what could be called a "professional" army - volunteers who were interested in making the Army their career. Serving in Vietnam at that time would be a big career boost, and, as US forces were mostly acting as a support and advisory role during that period, there wasn't a need for a huge number of soldiers. Thus, pre-1966, a typical US Army soldier would have looked like a typical American (same socio-economic background, race, et al), withe the caveaut that officers were from better social backgrounds than enlisted (which has been typical throughout history), and, thus, were far more "white" than the general population. Such a soldier would almost certainly have a high school education, and even the enlisted would average in age around 24.

Post-1966, with the mass introduction of US ground forces for major combat, and the increasing unpopularity of the war, the Army composition in Vietnam changed. Many better-off men volunteered for service rather than be drafted, but volunteered for branches unlikely to see combat (e.g. the Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force, and various National Guard units). In addition, many of those with any political influence (even on their local draft boards) used it to be assigned places outside of Vietnam. So, while the Army as a whole tended to remain relatively reflective of the US population, the enlisted soldiers actually deployed to Vietnam were much less so. As noted above, the average age was 20, and the great majority did have a high school education. However, there was a noticeable disparity in racial mix, with the "underprivileged" races and socio-economic groups (blacks, hispanics, and poor whites) making up perhaps twice their "true" representation (that is, the proportion of those groups serving as US Army enlisted soldiers was about double that of the normal population). The composition of the officer corps generally didn't change, however, as it continued to drawn on the same groups it always had.