Kraeft was inducted into the United States Army on December 16, 1943. He initially held the rank of corporal and served with the infantry at Camp Fannin. He then attended Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.[2] Kraeft was discharged from the military in the spring of 1946 and resumed coaching that fall when he was hired an assistant football coach and physical education instructor at Milwaukee State Teachers College—now known as University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.[3]
