Re-instating the draft?

[Neil]

My sister said something about her friends teacher saying something about reinstating the draft. I didnt see any news headlines, so I dont think its accurate, but I just wanted to see if you guys had heard anything about it.

Give me a history lesson....

When was the last time the draft was active?

How exactly does the draft work?

Who has the power to reinstate the draft?

How many people were drafted last time the draft was active?

what were the ages of most of those drafted?

Class dismissed

 

[Silverleaf]

I don't know all the official answers..but:

When was the last time the draft was active?

Vietnam War by my recollection... although the draft was still going on till 1975 ot 76, if memory serves.


How exactly does the draft work?

Your contacted by mail, normally which is sent to your local post office, then they contact you via a Postmaster General official announcement. It comes with your full name, and in many cases - given the condition of the draft, it arrives via carrier directly to your door where you have to sign for it.

Condition of the Draft refers to if the draft is for a full scale war, like WW2 - shortly after the attacks at Pearl Harbor. Or if the draft has been reactivated to replenish the rerserves of each branch.


Who has the power to reinstate the draft?

The President, with Congress acting as the final vote.


How many people were drafted last time the draft was active?

I don't know for sure, you'd need to check online for such a query.


What were the ages of most of those drafted?

18 to 23 (?) was what I remembered, simply because I had a few friends whom just missed the draft.

Also, if your a reservist in any of the military branches, OR are on the other end of the spectrum - having just retired after serving, your always high on the list for re-instatement to active duty.

Note that the odds go up if you served say 4 or 6 years, compared to a person whom retired after 20 or 30 years unless they were a high ranking officer or in a highly skilled position.

Sorry I couldn't help you more..

 

[Neil]

So how close do you think we are to reinstating the draft? If we (the US) declared war on, say, North korea, would teh draft be reinstated?

Thanks for the history lesson!

 

[edwardw]

To be in the draft to you have to be registered with the Selective Service Administration. I remember filling it out when I turned 18 and I have my card here. I beleive the ages on the card are 18-25.

I don't see the US going to war with North Korea anytime soon, that would just be a downright dumb thing to do.

I remember my Dad got drafted for Vietnam. When the draft numbers were announced on television he just went down the next day and signed up for the Air Force. I believe they used to give you the numbers they were drafting - as in a lot number. Selective Services Numbers XXX-XXX-XXX through YYY-YYY-YYY.

I don't see the US reinstating the draft anytime soon, our military is not in need of any troops, enough keep signing up, and we have plenty of reserves.

I though still have 1 year and 7 months till I'm 25 So I'm still game for draft. That's okay by me even though I'm in college - freedom is more important to me than my education.

Edward

 

[WiK]

You (We) havent quite finished Iraq yet...

 

[Austin]

Not a clue on how close...We may not need the draft unless enlistment has gone down. I am pretty strong with following through though if it's needed. My nephew is in Iraq as we speak doing his duty, so patriotism is at at high in the military right now!

Draft History...

The last draft was during the Vietnam War.

It started in the late sixties.

It lasted until 1974.

You were required to register at the post office for a draft card on your 18th birthday.

You received your draft number one year later, when you turned 19.

After 25, you were pretty much exempt from the draft...they wanted fresher meat.

A H classification was good...meant you were healthy and ready to go.

Numbers were drawn randomly from 1-365; each number was applied to a date in the year.

the Date for the year was your birth date...you could be born on day 334, December 1st, and receive draft number 5...like stated, it was random

If you got a low number, chances are you would make the draft and have to serve.

Higher numbers, while still available to serve, rarely were chosen

They took low number draftee's during the year up until they had the count they needed.

A person attending college was generally exempt from being drafted

If they dropped from college, they immediately were made available for the draft again...their classification changed.

College students still obtained a draft card and number.

If you had a low draft number and were drafted, you were notified as stated earlier.

Failure to comply to the draft was a federal offense.

Thise are the facts...as I remember them. How do I know? I turned 18 during 1973, got my draft card at the post office, received my number the following year...then the draft was closed. My cousin was three years older and had #12, but he was in college and exempt. I was ready to enlist before being drafted and nearly joined the Air Force, which would have been a good move I think. I wound up attending Tech College instead, but will never forget the anticipation, anxiety, patriotism, fear and sorrow that was shared during that time.

Carl

 

[edwardw]

Carl

As I see my generation grow up (I was born in 1980) I realize that we have lost our sense of responsibility toward our freedom. Many of my friends don't realize that our parents and grandparents fought for our freedom. I really admire my grandparents generation for the huge sacrifices they made in WWII and Korea for our country and my parents in Vietnam. My generation seems to think that freedom is handed to them and it is a right. Well, it isn't a right and many men have died keeping our liberties and freedom. I see a lot of kids here on campus not realizing that and it makes me sad. So many of my generation think everything here is a right not a privilege. I didn't realize this until I went out of country and saw how good we have it here.

If there was another major conflict threatening the US and our freedom I would be torn between family and country, a hard choice. But seeing as many men in WWII knew that it had to be done for the ones that are to follow them I would have to choose to serve my country for the sake of my family.

Edward

 

[Austin]

Edward...hats off to you and others with that attitude, putting patriotism before education...it's for that reason we are still a free nation. My nephew volunteered to go to Iraq, where he is now stationed and I can tell you now, patriotism and freedom is what drives them out there. Seems to be a trend with some of the new 18 year old crowd and I am glad for it!!!

Hats off to all of you serving or willing to serve!!!

Carl

 

[edwardw]

When my Dad got back from Vietnam he had shipped to him in Kansas two huge empty steel bomb casings. The bottom/fincan was about 5' tall and the top was at least that big also. About 2' in diameter. I think I will have to see if I can get them and make a rocket with their measurements. Sounds like I need to make some calls and see if they are still around.

 

[wwattles]

From the point of view of someone who is on the other side of the military/civilian line, I would hazard a guess that we are not very close to reinstating the draft. The reason I say this is that we still have a LOT of reservists who have not been activated, and also we have demonstrated that we are willing to send our National Guard into the fight.
There is a lot of talk right now about the draft because of 2 main points that I've heard.

One point of view is looking at the War on Terror as a major war that will require hundreds of thousands of men and women serving (and dying) for decades to come and we will quickly exhaust our supply of willing volunteers. The situation in Iraq and Afghanistan has pretty much proven that the military losses are far fewer than the hundreds a day predicted by the proponents of this idea.

The second point of view that advocates the draft is more of a reverse psychology approach to national leadership. The argument is that if we have non-volunteers in the military, Congress and the President will be more reluctant to send our military into harm's way. The thinking is that if someone's family is watching their beloved son/daughter, who didn't want to serve anyway, being put in danger for a "meaningless war" they will rise up and kick out the congressman/woman who they elected to office and who voted to send son/daughter to war.

End of Social Studies Lesson for the day.

WW

 

[sandman]

You were required to register at the post office for a draft card on your 18th birthday

You still are required...by law...to register on your 18th birthday.

Even though there is not currently a draft, the Selective Service requires anyone of draft age to be registered. In case it has to be reinstated.

sandman

 

[rstaff3]

I rememnber the facts pretty much as Carl does, but beat him to 18 by just a bit. My son got a notice in the mail just before his 18th birthday. All he had to do was fill out a card and mail it back IIRC.

 

[Neil]

I know were not done with Iraq yet. we are not even finished with Afganistan.

My uncle just shipped out to South Korea a few months ago, thats why it came to mind. If you ask me, we should be more interested in the pakistani/afgan border, where Osama bin Laden is supposed to be.... I personnaly think that would be better than declaring war on another country, or even sending troops there.

Is it just men who have to register on their 18th birthday, or do women have to, also?

 

[edwardw]

Just men have to register. Women need to keep the country going My great aunt and grandma built Boeing bombers during WWII. It always makes me smile when I see a picture of my grandma putting sheet metal on an airframe or bolting a radial engine in place Never thought of her like that.

 

[wwattles]

Just men have to register. Women need to keep the country going

That's actually quite a topic of discussion ever since they started letting women into combat roles. Why do just the men have to register for the draft, if both men and women who are active can be called upon to go into combat? I'm not asking for an answer, just posing the philosophical question that moralists have been debating for the last 10 years...

WW

 

[Neil]

That is an interesting topic.... I dont know what I think on that... Both men and women take part in combat, so they should both be draftable, but there are still many more men than women in the armed forces, so they should not be equally draftable.... This is very interesting, and confusing....

 

[Chilly]

Not quite. Far as I know, women are still not allowed to serve in direct ground combat roles (infantry, armor, artillery). It's still plenty easy for them to get in harm's way though, as we saw in Iraq.

As to where we send troops, give it time. We do still have large numbers of troops operating on the Afghan border looking for Osama. Over time a free Afghanistan AND Iraq will prove to be the cornerstones of reforming the Middle East, which is really the only long-term way to eliminate their brand of terrorism. Make no mistake, the recent signing of an Iraqi constitution is a significant development and would never have happened without our presence.

As to N. Korea, it'd probably take something really dramatic to prompt an invasion. I mean serious imminent danger, like conclusive proof they've been supplying nukes to Al Qaeda or preparing to invade the South. The fact that the NKs already have nukes affects our strategy. I don't think there's a military scenario that doesn't end up with Seoul being turned to dust in the first half-hour. That's always been the case 'cause they have like ten thousand artillery pieces on the Z pointed at Seoul. With nukes they can just do the same job faster.

 

[shockwaveriderz]

when I turned 18 in 9/73 I registered for the draft and got a 1-H classification and my number was 337......

The actual draft was over by then as Nixon had started "vietnamization" ie the pullout of US forces in 1972...

Also the way they ran the draft also changed during the years....

If i rember corrrectly and I may be wrong, at first they were doing the random number bit as CT pointed out, later it was changed that they divided potential draftees up into 3 number pools

1-133 134-266 267-366........ They first went after their draft allotment numbers in the 1st number group and might fill say 40-50% of their alloted quota.....then they would get the next 40-60% of people from the 2nd number group......usually the army had filled all its slots by this round so if you had a relatively high also number you were realtively safe....

This was why the draft was so hated.....it was unfair from the very beginning as the only people that got drafted where poor whites,balcks and people of color.....no white rich boys went unless they decdied to go themselves...... of course the deferments that were allowed say in 65-66 where gone by 68-69...hence people flocking to their local National Guard units...

My father died in 1966 at the age of 36.......he was a drill instructor out at Ft.Knox..... he told my mother that he was sad that he was training young men to go and die in Vietnam....he also told my mother on his death bed that he was glad that he was dying because he knew if they shipped him to Vietnam that he would die there...... My dad did 2 tours of duty in Korea as a 19-21 yr old......

 

[Chuck Rudy]

I graduated 1975 and did not have to register with selective service, I *may* have been the first birth year not only not to be subject to the draft, but not even having to register for it.

 

[Neil]

Out of curiosity, how many troops do we have in Afganistan? Not enough, if the Taliban are claiming to controll 1/3 of the country... I wonder what would happen if the Pakistan govt caught him before we did... That would be a little embarrasing. I really dont care who catches him, as long as he gets what he deserves.:kill:

My mom is still saying he will die of disiese before anyone gets him...

 

[Austin]

Many of the recent posts were not on content of the thread; this isn't rmr and we will not have hijacked posts here...those off-topic have been removed.

Regards,

TRF Staff