During the draft period, what happened to conscripted members who could not make it past the initial training?

First thing is that the classification system was designed to weed out those that couldn't perform because of obvious physical or mental conditions, the designation 4F was for those deemed unfit. If you actually made it to the painted feet, the standards were completely different. From my observation of the remains of the Draft Army when I came in and anecdotally from those that served during the period, there just weren't many standards for the draftees. Couldn't pass PT? You will get in shape in Vietnam. Overweight? Not a problem. A marine friend that is a bit older than I am that served in Marine Infantry claimed that half of his platoon wouldn't have passed the IQ test required today (1966/67 time frame). While I am of the opinion that we put out people that with a bit of motivation would be acceptable soldiers today, the reason for the standards we have today was the Cluster**** that the Vietnam Draft made of the services.

I served 1965/68 enlisted but with many drafted men during that period,everyone made it through training ,if not the Army had recycling programs which had a small number of personnel fail,these men were returned to civilian life with a general discharge I think,also had experiences with Pres.Johnson’s 100,000 program in Vietnam ,replacements for Infantry units,piss poor decision by the bean counters in my estimation.

I served from 1968 to 1972. If a recruit was fat they were sent to the fat farm and there was a platoon for attitude reajustment. If they could not hack it, they did not graduate Boot Camp and were discharged.

"Alternative Service Employer Network
In any return to conscription the Director of Selective Service is responsible for finding alternative civilian work for registrants who have been exempted from military service and training because of conscientious objection to both combatant and noncombatant military service. The Director will place these registrants with members of the Alternative Service Employer Network (ASEN), a pool of eligible civilian employers who agree to provide jobs to Alternative Service Workers (ASWs) in a draft. The work offered by these employers must contribute to the maintenance of the national health, safety, or interest."

If they fail willingly then it becomes a military justice issue.

In the late Vietnam era, draftees mostly went to the Army so I only saw a limited sample in the Air Force. If a new recruit failed to make to through Air Force basic training, then my guess is they were discharged, probably with a General. Tech school was a different matter. If a new Airman Basic or Airman Third couldn't get through a tech school, such as aircraft maintenance, then the Air Force tried to reclassify them to a different tech school that better suited their capabilities and the needs of the Air Force. Failing that they were also discharged, normally a General discharge. A few "bad apples" who had recurring encounters with law enforcement or other bad behaviors were discharged with a General/less-than-honorable or sometimes court martialed and sent home with a Bad Conduct Discharge (if they avoided confinement). For a short period of time in the 1970s I think the Air Force accepted recruits who didn't make the minimum scores to enter the Service. They set up remedial reading, writing, and math classes for these folks and worked to bring them up to minimum standards before they went to training.

Officers did sometimes fail to complete their training. I saw pilot trainees who couldn't hack the flying transferred to navigator training (if they were doing well in the classroom) or to other schools so they could complete their service commitment. Don't know what happened if an officer failed in some other school. Perhaps also a General discharge.

Back in 1970 we had a young lady named Teresa Fly from West Virginia
She tried everything to get out, and none of it worked

Marine Corps recruit training Parris Island rejected recruit trainees after a punishing 6 months in most cases. General Conduct discharge or General with a medical for injuries and mental problems. Getting dropped from a platoon was the beginning of a very bad time for "the maggot"s. Brig, correctional custody, crap details for sick, lame, crazy. Observed some painting with leg and arm casts once marching through third battalion area.
Early one Sunday morning a large block formation marched across the parade deck towards the old brick PX area. On their return they were in civilian clothes marching in the direction of the gate road. We were cleaning and not supposed to look out of the windows but we did. Scuttlebutt from a pick up had it they boarded buses out of site of first battalion area. The pickup had been recycled for three months before joining our training platoon.

Some received a General Discharge although under Honorable conditions WASN'T an Honorable discharge. There were different reasons for separation but in those cases they were deemed unfit for Military service even though they had been on active duty. Most had never made it through training but not all the reasons are the same any more than all the people being the same.

I enlisted rather than be drafted. In the draft lottery, my birthday was number 7. During boot camp, we had several individuals that would have been rejected in today’s service. One was a very large individual, not quite sure why the Navy accepted him, but he had a very positive attitude. He worked hard to make it through boot camp, but had trouble understanding simple things, like left from right, etc. He pushed himself really hard, but was discharged after 4 weeks as unfit for naval service. A few weeks into electronics A school, I received a letter from his mom, thanking me and a couple of others who had tried to help him. She said he received his draft notice and reported to the Army a week after his Navy discharge. He died in VietNam three weeks after he arrived there. His mom said he was always slow, and always big. Not sure how he was passed through basic training, but was really sad to hear of his passing.

During this period a lot of recruits were recycled again and again, until they met the standards, pretty much if you got drafted, you would serve. I had a soldier on my team in Viet Nam that could not even read; I would read his letters from home to him. He enlisted after he was told the Army would teach him to read and write.

I enlisted in July 1966. In my BCT unit we had one person who was absolutely a mental case, who honestly couldn't tie his boot laces, or dress properly, and no he wasn't putting this on. We had another guy who couldn't red or write, add or subtract. Quit school at a very young age..
It appeared they're scraping the bottom of the barrel. After the cycle completed, they did discharge the mentally incompetent guy, but the guy with no education went on to be a grunt. The strange thing about all of this was that, about 75-80% of our BCT group were OCS candidates!

Good afternoon @MAJ Vance Fleming. Excellent post. Thank you for sharing this Sir. :->

Conscripted is absolutely the wrong term
They where drafted into the military
Where conscripts will serve their time in various positions in government organization
So as a public affairs officer you need to consider that
Most ineligible or unable to make it through basic training where medical out or less than honorable depending on the situation

Think what you want, but I was there. In 1966 I was 20 years old and had not been drafted. I was classified 1Y marginally fit for service in case of a National Emergency. I was overweight, had stomach ulcers and bleeding hemorrhoids. That was the results from my first physical at the draft board at 17 years of age. Summer of 66 they recalled me and said that ALL 1Y's were being reclassified, because President Johnson declared war and that was a national emergency!
In the reception center we had one man who was 1Y because of a heart murmur. They said no big deal your drafted. Two days in we were double timed to the mess hall, this man fell down and was taken to the medics. He had a heart attack. I hope he got a medical discharge. I recognized a lot of guys I knew that had not been drafted when they were young, because they were in Jail. I guess juvy records were sealed at 18 so it was now ok to draft them.
I guess I must have been one of those morons, because once I was in I volunteered for Vietnam Combat duty. Myself and 30 other morons who had done the same were sent to Fort Riley Kansas. The 9th infantry division was training there to go to Vietnam as a Division. We had men in basic who did not even know their Right side from their Left side. In my company we had many men who had trouble with the minimum required physical tests. We were regrouped and tested again so we could graduate Basic. The NCO's in charge were told by the Captain that we would be given passing grades.
We had 2 men that went AWOL and as far as I know wound up in Federal prison. I noticed at graduation that all those with high physical scores were sent to infantry training. While myself and others who took the second test were assigned to support outfits like Artillery.
Thinking that if someone was mentally or physically unfit for a job and would get an Honorable discharge is laughable.
In 1967 we went to Vietnam, I was in commo, wireman and radio. I will say this some of the bravest and most courageous men I knew had trouble writing their own name. They were also at maybe a second grade reading level. However these men that I knew personally had won several Silver and Bronze stars, so I guess you don't have to be a genius to be a hero. Sadly some of those names are engraved in that sad wall in Washington D.C.

I was RA in 1969. During the medical that was given prior to being sworn in. The majority of men going thru the medical stations were drafted. One fellow had a STD so everyone had him pee in their cup. Hearing test after the tone they either did nothing or pressed the button. Needless say everyone was medically cleared and sworn in! Nobody failed!!