Selective Service site up and running... Draft coming for War with Iran?

[npincus]

http://www.sss.gov/FSwho.htm

WTF? The Selective Service is offering online registration? "All U.S. male citizens, between 18 and 25, are required to register"? Is this a joke? We can see the B*sh Admin is starting a pre-emptive war-dance with Iran. Isn't it obvious where the manpower for this will come from? What the hell is going on?

(on edit: DUers have educated me that this is an old policy. I plead ignorance- I am from a family of girls, the topic never came up with male friends, and just plain did not know. HOWEVER... I think the Draft is as imminent as the next war in Iran.. how else are we supposed to find enough bodies to fight wars on 2 fronts?)


WHO MUST REGISTER


Almost all male U.S. citizens, and male aliens living in the U.S., who are 18 through 25, are required to register with Selective Service. It's important to know that even though he is registered, a man will not automatically be inducted into the military. In a crisis requiring a draft, men would be called in sequence determined by random lottery number and year of birth. Then, they would be examined for mental, physical and moral fitness by the military before being deferred or exempted from military service or inducted into the Armed Forces.

A chart of who must register is also available.



About the Selective Service (http://www.sss.gov/Default.htm) :



The Selective Service System is an independent federal agency operating with permanent authorization under the Military Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. App. 451 et seq.). It is not part of the Department of Defense; however, it exists to serve the emergency manpower needs of the Military by conscripting untrained manpower, or personnel with professional health care skills, if directed by Congress and the President in a national crisis. Its statutory missions also include being ready to administer an alternative service program, in lieu of military service for men classified as conscientious objectors.

The Selective Service System is America's proven and time-tested hedge against underestimating the number of active duty and Reserve Component military personnel needed in a future conflict. In peacetime, the Agency is minimally staffed and heavily dependent upon part-time personnel and volunteers throughout the United States to keep viable the Nation's ability to conduct a draft that would be timely, fair, and equitable in a crisis. As a part of that readiness, virtually all men in the U.S. are required to register with Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday. Men must be registered to be in compliance with federal law and stay eligible for student loans and grants, government jobs, job training, all security background clearances, and U.S. citizenship for immigrants.

Today, the Selective Service System continues to satisfy its statutory obligations while providing the only time-tested mechanism to backup the all-volunteer military when needed.

[dogday]

1. I think this has been a mandatory program for some time now

Pretty sure you can go to the post office and do this... It is a requirement...

[meegbear]

3. Been around since the early eighties at least ...

I registered when I turned 18 in 1983. I was at the post office a couple of weeks ago and saw a sign for it.

Going online to do it is just another part of the world with the internet.

[0007]

4. What does it mean if one pleads ignorance? Is everyone notified

to register on his 18th birthday?

[Caoimhe]

9. every American male, yes

[dr.strangelove]

11. Did you get that notification that kidnapping is illegal

Federal law does not require notification unless the law specifically requires it, like the Social Security law and some areas of tax law. Most laws prohibit conduct rather than require active conduct, but the notification requirements are the same, none is requried unless specified. The old saying, ignorence of the law is no excuse, applies here. And no, there is no requirement for notification. You do raise a good point and maybe they should do what SS requires, a letter be sent. That would prove costly, but it may be worth it.

Although notification is not required, many schools and local election boards do provide this on their own. I got a letter from my school and another from the county board of elections after I registered to vote.

[0007]

12. Thanks dr.strangelove

[sir_captain]

2. Um, men have always been required to register

Traditionally, one gets a postcard from selective services on one's 18th birthday.

[Fredda Weinberg]

10. Thank Ronald Reagan n/t

[NNN0LHI]

13. Jimmy Carter

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ned=tus&q=register+with+Selective+Service%2Bjimmy+carter&btnmeta%3Dsearch%3Dsearch=Search+the+Web

[Fredda Weinberg]

20. Yes, you're right ... Reagan only flip-flopped and kept it

That's what I remembered.

[CBGLuthier]

14. not always, there was about a five year gap

They brought it back in 79 or 80. I turned 18 in 79 but am pretty sure I didn't have to register until a year or so later.

[Beelzebud]

5. I can't wait to burn my draft card, and hitchhike to D.C.

Because if they do bring back a draft, it'll be the 60's all over again.

[MADem]

6. Registration has been mandated for eons

They finally got around to updating their website, and I personally do not think this is accidental.

Get yer kids a prescription for ritalin, even if they never take it--fill it early and often. Get a diagnosis of ADD or ADHD, even if it is BS...get it in writing, and hang on to it like it is stock in Coca-Cola. Make sure they get tattoos on their neck above the collar, or on their hands or fingers! If the draft becomes reality, start feeding them high fructose corn syrup intravenously; make them fat, fat, fat like a Christmas goose...these are all disqualifiers for service....

[Caoimhe]

8. Can't they just state they are gay?

Don't ask don't tell type thing? Or does that not fly anymore?

[MADem]

18. Guys pulled CPL KLINGERS at the processing stations during Vietnam

And they simply ignored the behavior, assuming they were "otherwise qualified." Some of the more vicious military processors would rather crudely invite the inductee to engage in activity to "prove" their assertion.

It wouldn't surprise me, if that became an issue, that gay folks would finally get the opportunity to serve in open fashion, simply to avoid that loophole.

Quite frankly, I have often thought an interesting test of DADT (Don't Ask/Don't Tell) would be for someone who was gay with a legal spouse (not a domestic partner, a MARRIED--as in Massachusetts Married--gay person) joined the military, used the DADT business, and then demanded the BAH, dependent ID card, medical care, commissary and exchange benefits, and so on, for their spouse.

The way the rule is written, you can BE gay, you just are not allowed to do "gay" things. And I am not talking about fabulous accessorizing, I'm talking about the S-E-X stuff--that is the only thing that gets the brass exorcised. Also, you are not supposed to SAY that you are gay, but if you do, in order to stay in service, you have to state that you don't actually USE your fiddly bits in "gay" ways. In other words, if your gayness is revealed, the burden of proof is on the gay person. NCIS would investigate, and you'd need a couple for this test of the regulation that actually doesn't DO the nasty, for whatever reason.

Hell, there are more than a few married people who don't do the S-E-X thing...why must one assume that there wouldn't be a gay couple or two out there that just had no drive?

Or alternatively, a couple of STRAIGHT people of the same gender could get married in Massachusetts, and one of them join the service. They could file affadavits ahead of their marriage that they were straight. That would be one HELLUVA conundrum for the military!

Of course, it would condemn the couple--or at least the active duty member--to a life of celibacy during the period of service, because they'd be watching him (or her) for evidence of "adulterous behavior"--anything to unload them! The one in the role of spouse could have a swell time, though, making the "Midway Wives" of yore look like nuns!

It would be a decisive chink in the armor against DADT, if anyone was tough enough to go through with it....of course, the poor couple willing to endure what would clearly be a bit of hell would be quite brave, but it would open up an interesting can of worms for the military!

[Sydnie]

15. ADHD is a disqualifier?

Please say it is so! My son was diagnosed at 7 with ADHD and he has just turned 18 last October. That news would make my day! Any link to that info would be greatly appreciated.

[northzax]

17. the use of ritalin within the last year

is a disqualifier from a volunteer army. it wouldn't be in a draft situation.

[MADem]

19. They would have to change the reg--they are studying it now, but

the rule still remains:

Since 1990, the use of Ritalin nationwide has increased sixfold. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that 3 percent to 5 percent of all children under the age of 18 have ADD.

The burgeoning use of Ritalin is prompting military planners to take a closer look at ADD and how it might affect future manpower needs. The Pentagon is studying the training the training-camp performance of former Ritalin users who enlisted with the help of a medical waiver, said policy-planner Baldwin, a medical doctor.

http://www.nfgcc.org/64.htm

On edit--the absolute BAR to enlistment applies to use of ritalin AFTER AGE 12. Waivers for use before that age are being processed for "otherwise highly qualified" applicants, but teens on ritalin is still a no-go.

[northzax]

16. not in a draft, they aren't

ritalin? who gives a crap. overweight? that's what boot camp is for, over and over again. tats? again, you can't say that a conscripted army is a professional one, so that restriction is irrelevant. don't mess up your kids simply to avoid a draft that isn't coming.

[Caoimhe]

7. Yep, my brothers had to register, I being female, didn't

It's I guess their way of inventorying the pool of males of fighting age. In Switzerland one must register with the government how many horses you have too. It's their way of knowing what sortof forces they can muster. Kindof odd.