Besides dressing as a woman, Klinger also tried a wide range of other ploys to get out of the army. Not all of the ploys attempted to exploit a "Section 8" by proving that he is mentally unfit for service. Other ploys were aimed at getting a hardship discharge on compassionate grounds or were outright efforts of desertion. Klinger's ploys invariably fell flat mostly because his commanders could outwit him or see through his scheme. However, as can be seen from the list below, some of the ploys came close to succeeding.