With a lottery number of 88, I knew I would be drafted. I had a choice, I could be a guy picking up cigarette butts during police call… or I could be a guy watching other guys picking up cigarette butts… a student deferment (I-S) would only get me through the end of the term ….an ROTC deferment (I-D) would take me through graduation… so, I took ROTC, was commissioned in May 1974…. ordered to active duty for 2 years…. the draft was over, but my plan worked… I could have done 2 years as an enlisted or 2 years as a lieutenant. The decisions I had to make influenced the rest of my life.