Due to the length, this comment will be split in three parts. I focus on the journey of the drafted infantry replacement.

The Draftee's Journey

Robert S. Rush’s book GI: The US Infantryman in World War II gives a very nice overview of the US infantryman’s experience in WWII, by using four vignettes, each of a fictional soldier in;

• Pacific Ocean Area (a “Michael O’Brien”, of the 165th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division. Michael voluntarily enlisted pre-war into the New York National Guard)

• North Africa and the Mediterranean (a “John Smith”, of the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division. John voluntarily enlists and is assigned as a replacement to the 76th Infantry Division, but is later transferred to the 34th Infantry Division after one of their companies suffers heavy losses at Kef al Ahmar Pass in March 1943)

• Europe (a “Joseph Stein”, of the 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. Joseph is drafted, and later receives a field commission as an officer)

• Southwest Pacific (a “Gordon Cockrell”, of the 382nd Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Division. Gordon is drafted, and initially assigned to the 89th Infantry Division, but is eligible for and attends Officer Candidate School and is later assigned to the 96th Infantry Division)

To organize the peacetime draft of October 1940 under the Selective Training and Service Act (STSA) the Selective Service set up 6,443 draft boards nationwide. Each board covered a small area, usually a county; large cities such as New York had many boards, one for every 30,000 people. The board assigned each of its eligible registrants a number (in the case of the first draft call, 1 through 7,836) on a card that also had relevant personal information. The very first call in October 1940 was symbolic; In Washington D.C., the numbers were placed into capsules and then into a large glass bowl. The bowl was stirred by Secretary of War Henry Stimson using a rod made from a beam of Philadelphia's Independence Hall. He then drew a number from the bowl and opened it. President Roosevelt announced the number; 158. Across the country, 6,175 men had that number on their cards. More numbers were drawn from the bowl until a reasonable number of men were inducted for military service. The STSA stipulated that not more than 900,000 men were to be in training at any one time. The men called up in October 1940 were to serve for twelve months, but this term of service was unpopularly extended for eighteen more months. After Pearl Harbor, the term was extended again, for the duration of the war plus six months.

With the war now on, the Selective Service began drafting under a quota; 200,000 eligible men per month. Men were called up by lottery in large groups and the boards ensured proper identification and processing of men selected in the lottery.

Draft Registrations:

Registration	Date	Criteria
1	16 Oct 40	Men who were 21-36 years old
2	1 Jul 41	Men who had turned 21 since 16 Oct 40
3	14-16 Feb 42	Men who were 20 before 7 Dec 41 and younger than 45 by 16 Feb 42
4	25-27 Apr 42	Men who were at least 45 on or before 16 Feb 42 and not older than 65 on or before 27 Apr 42
5	30 Jun 42	Men born after 1 Jan 1922 and before 30 Jun 1924
6	10-31 Dec 42	Men who were 18 by 31 Dec 1942
Extra	16 Nov-31 Dec 43	Men living abroad aged 18-45

After the 6th registration, it was required by law for all future draftees to register upon reaching their 18th birthday.

WWII Draft Classifications:

Classification	Info
I	Available for service
I-A	Available for military service
I-A-O	Conscientious objectors eligible in noncombatant role
I-B	Available for limited military service
I-B-O	Conscientious objectors available for limited service [not used after Aug. 18, 1942]
I-C	Members of land or naval forces of the United States
I-D	Students fit for military service; available not later than July 1, 1941
I-E	Students fit for limited military service; available not later than July 1, 1941
I-H	Men deferred by reason of age [not in effect]
II	Deferred because of occupation
II-A	Men necessary in civilian activity
II-B	Men necessary to national defense
II-C	Men necessary to farm labor
III	Deferred because of dependents
III-A	Men with dependents not engaged in work essential to national defense [eliminated Oct. 1, 1943]
III-B	Men with dependents engaged in work essential to national defense
IV	Deferred by law or because unfit
IV-A	Men who had completed service [not considered in war]
IV-B	Officials deferred by law
IV-C	Non-declarant aliens
IV-D	Ministers of religion or divinity students
IV-E	Conscientious objectors available for civilian work of national importance
IV-E-LS	Conscientious objectors available for limited civilian work of national importance
IV-E-H	Men formerly classified in IV-E or IV-E-LS, deferred by reason of age
IV-F	Men physically, mentally or morally unfit

The STSA was amended with a provision that registrants who had reached their 28th birthday or older by July 1, 1941 were deferred from being drafted. With US entry into WWII, this was soon eliminated.

On December 5, 1942, through Executive Order 9279, President Roosevelt adjusted the draftable age from 21-38 to 18-37, and eliminated most voluntary enlistment to avoid disrupting war production and to control the number of men the military received at a time. Men who were 17 and those who were 38-45 could still voluntarily enlist provided they met the military's qualifications.

In order to be accepted for service in the Army in October 1940, a man needed to;

• Be over five feet tall and weigh at least 105 lbs

• Have at least 12 teeth (6 incisors and 6 chewing teeth)

• Not have venereal disease, hernia, or flat feet

• Have vision correctable with glasses

• Be functionally literate and able to write

• Not have been convicted of a crime

A full 50 percent of the men called to serve in October 1940 were rejected, 20 percent of these because they were illiterate by Army standards.

By April 1944, the Army relaxed the induction criteria as they proved to be too disqualifying in some cases. Men could now be completely toothless, be missing one or both external ears, or be missing a thumb or three fingers (but not both) on one hand only. Mild cases of venereal disease were also acceptable, to be treated with penicillin after induction.

Draft Notification and the Reception Center:

After expressing their intention to serve and signing up voluntarily, or being told to via draft, the journey was essentially the same from here on.

After being informed of their impending service, the men reported to local induction stations, oftentimes the draft board or a local school building. If the men passed the initial medical and physical examination at the induction station, they were given a date and time to report back to the induction station for transport to a reception center. The break given was usually several weeks, to allow the men to clear up any financial or familial obligations they had at home. Reception centers were mostly located on large military installations, often a state or two away. For many men, this would be the first time they would ride a train or even travel outside their home county

Many reception centers were closed down once the pace of inductions moved to generally draft-only after late 1942. Reception centers in late 1944 included;

Corps Area	States	Reception Centers
1	CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT	Ft. Devens
2	DE, NJ, NY	Ft. Dix
3	MD, PA, VA	Ft. George G. Meade, New Cumberland Reception Center
4	AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC, TN	Camp Shelby, Ft. McPherson, Ft. Benning, Ft. Bragg
5	IN, KY, OH, WV	Camp Atterbury
6	IL, MI, WI	Ft. Sheridan
7	CO, IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WY	Ft. Leavenworth, Jefferson Barracks
8	AR, LA, NM, OK, TX	Ft. Bliss, Ft. Sam Houston, Camp Chaffee
9	AK, AZ, CA, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA	Camp Beale, Ft. Lewis, Ft. Douglas, Ft. MacArthur

The Corps Area a man enlisted or was drafted from gave him the second number of his Army Serial Number (see below)

The following represents a typical schedule at a reception center. TM 12-223 Reception Center Operations dated December 20, 1944 dictates a three-day schedule. Men were told to pack an overnight bag but could stay at the reception centers anywhere from four days to four weeks (the average stay was nine days) while equipment, (particularly early in the war) manpower or assignment issues were worked out.

First Day:

Upon arrival at the reception center, the new recruits got their first taste of Army life, being hustled off the bus into the camp often accompanied by jeers or encouragement from active-duty soldiers. The men received their food; daily "A" rations were filling, (around 4,500 calories a day) and over 2,000 calories more than the average US civilian at the time was consuming. A meal highlighted in Robert S. Rush's GI seems particularly appealing; fried chicken, mashed potatoes, beans, coleslaw, milk, coffee, and apple pie. The recruits were then quartered and shown how to make their beds. The recruits then filled out forms to have their Army records initiated.

Second Day:

The men underwent more physical and mental examinations, and received vaccinations and the “short arm” (genital) inspection for venereal disease. These inspections were given whenever men reported to a new post. Many men who passed physicals in their home towns were disqualified. Due to the Great Depression, education and nutrition among recruits was often lacking. Many men, especially in the South or Midwest, had quit school or didn't attend much because they were needed to help on the farm. "John Smith" in Rush's story is a good example; John's mother died giving birth to his six-year-old sister, and his father is a dirt farmer in the area where Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee meet; John dropped out of school after the eighth grade.