DO YOU FEEL A DRAFT? (JW’s DID-in the 1960s)
I thought you might find it interesting to review exactly what the U.S. government thought, studied, and wrote about people of conscience during the Vietnam War.
What follows comes from official records…
More than half of the 27 million men eligible for the draft during the Vietnam War were deferred, exempted, or disqualified.
(Cortright, David (2008). Peace: A History of Movements and Ideas.)
The Federal Government and the Military created three categories for these fellows.
1. Draft Evaders
2, Draft Resistors
3, Conscientious Objectors
It is now known that, during the Vietnam era, approximately 570,000 young men were classified as draft offenders, and approximately 210,000 were formally accused of draft violations; however, only 8,750 were convicted and only 3,250 were jailed.
The SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM was “kind” enough to provide recourse for non-combatants. (see below) and that Alternative was “other than” Military or Political. 
We see from the above, that Alternative Service was viewed as being neutral in the eyes of the Law.
This is where the fun begins!
The attitude, mental state, and the reason given by each individual person actually determined how the Law would act - or-” react.”
The funny part (not “ha-ha” funny but peculiar) is that there is a technicality in all this that seems to be very hard for many folks to wrap their head around. Jehovah’s Witness Brothers were automatically exempted from the Military when they were deferred as Conscientious Objectors but - by also refusing community service instead of Military service, their DOUBLE-refusal was regarded as defiant, obstinate, and wilful insubordination.
Very few Judges could make heads or tails of this, it seems. Some did - most didn’t.
As a matter of fact, asking for that EXTRA privilege (requesting probation) backfired for many of those requesting special privileges.
Depending on the particular judge, attorney, or jury a JW had - the sentence might differ quite widely. 
That part (above) about Indeterminate sentences under the Youth Corrections Act,
was my category: the maximum sentence was 5 years EXCEPT under the YCA, and I received a 6-year sentence because I was 20 years old and my judge (Hang em’ High Brewster) decided to feel this was appropriate. (Sigh). Long story short: no two JW’s received the exact same treatment. Most of us never knew what our Brothers’ actual state of being was unless he volunteered to tell us. Among us are many untold stories!
Eventually, we were paroled and faced the prospects of going back into everyday life with an invisible impediment attached to our reputations (as far as employment was concerned).
Our prison experience might well be summed up by outsiders in the following way:
HALF A CENTURY ago we of the SEAGOVILLE brotherhood went into the local County Jails and served time in several Federal Correctional Institutions. Seagoville ironically had been built originally to house Japanese-Americans during WWII whose only crime was being the same nationality as the country the United States was fighting overseas.
When we finally made it back to our local congregations and asked to fill out our time spent in service card - those 17,532+hours looked mighty impressive - did they not?
Yes, I am jesting!
That time wasn’t counted - but for us - it counted.
Just simply knowing that time didn't count with the Watchtower Society says a lot.
In my mind, it means I and my fellow inmates were "useful idiots" and used as public relations to promote the idea that persecution proves the JW's were the true religion.
All of us separately and together did exactly what we were asked to do by our local congregations and (tacitly) by our Governing Body at the time. It was told to each of us quietly, circumspectly with caution:
"Do NOT tell anybody you were instructed to do this. You must say it is your conscience."
IRONIC, isn't it? We were told what to say as if our "conscience" was concluding ALTERNATE service was just as bad as military service. Who thinks that way? Who reasons like that?
I found the above information quite revealing. Maybe you did too.
________
Addendum
New Light
1996
"What, though, if the Christian lives in a land where exemption [from military service] is not granted to ministers of religion? Then he will have to make a personal decision following his Bible-trained conscience. What, though, if the State requires a Christian for a period of time to perform civilian service that is a part of national service under a civilian administration? That is his decision before Jehovah." Watchtower 1996 May 1 pp.19-20
“Jehovah’s Witnesses are grateful when governments exempt them from military service altogether or allow conscientious young men and women to perform nonmilitary civilian national service. (Romans 12:18; 14:19; 2 Corinthians 10:4; Hebrews 12:14) Furthermore, the Witnesses’ neutral stand means that they do not interfere with those who choose to serve in the armed forces. Application of this simple principle makes Jehovah’s Witnesses exemplary, peace-loving citizens from whom governmental authorities have nothing to fear. “
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/RuleOfLaw/ConscientiousObjection/JehovahsWitnesses.pdf