Introduction

Military conscription of people with disabilities, sometimes termed a disability draft, has occurred on various occasions historically.

Cases

Below are listed known cases of the drafting of disabled persons:

• In Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War, more than 480 people with intellectual disabilities were conscripted.
• In the United States during the Vietnam War, there was a disability draft under the Johnson Administration, called Project 100,000.
  • Men who had previously been rejected from military service due to physical or mental disabilities were re-classified and sent to the frontlines in Vietnam.
• In North Korea: The conscription physical examination has eased the criteria for military service suitability due to low height, reportedly to 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) as of 2012.
• In Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, numerous people with a variety of disabilities have been drafted over the course of the conflict.
  • The Ukrainian Defence Ministry amended the criteria for medical exemptions, reclassifying people with tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, thyroid disease and HIV to be fit for military service.
  • In August 2024, it was reported that people with epilepsy had been recruited.
  • On 22 October 2024, Ukrainian president Zelenskyy sign a decree which dissolved the medical examination commissions for determining the severity of disabilities that qualified for military exemptions.

Volunteers

• In December 1931, RAF pilot Douglas Bader crashed and lost the lower part of both his legs.
  • He was retired against his will on medical grounds.
  • At the outbreak of World War II he returned to the RAF as a pilot.
• Gheorghe Bănciulescu, a Romanian aviator, the first pilot in the world to fly with his feet amputated.
• Alexey Maresyev, a Soviet Second World War fighter ace with amputated legs.
• James MacLachlan, a British Second World War fighter ace with an amputated arm.
• Hans-Ulrich Rudel, a Second World War German pilot who continued flying after having a leg amputated.

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