Shedding light on the draft

By RICHARD A. ROSS

A brief history of the draft

NARROWSBURG, NY — While conscription in the United States military dates back to the days of the Revolutionary War, the establishment of a civilian run Selective Service system that would draft young men to fill vacancies in the military during both war and peace time came on September 16, 1940 during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. That continued until 1973 when President Nixon ended the draft and converted the military into an all-volunteer entity. From 1973 until 1980, registration for the draft was suspended, but President Carter revived the registration process after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1980.

When a young man reaches his 18th birthday, he is required by law to register with the Selective Service System. Failure to do so may result in a five-year prison term and/or a fine of up to $250,000, though according to Upstate New York Selective Service Regional Director Jack Young, that contingency has not always been enforced. As of today, 32 states, including New York, employ a policy that requires registration for Selective Service as a prerequisite to obtaining a driver’s license.

With the increased pressure on the reserves to fill the ranks of a military that has been stretched by the war in Iraq, speculation about the revival of the draft began to surface. In January of 2003, Charles Rangel of the 15th Congressional District of New York introduced H.R. 163, a bill designed to reactivate the draft. Senator Fritz Hollings of South Carolina introduced S. 89, a similar bill, in the Senate.

President Bush, Democratic candidate John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon have all maintained that the draft will not be revived. On October 5, 2004, H.R. 163 was defeated by a vote of 402-2. The Senate bill continues to languish.

Still, many 18- to 25-year-olds are apprehensive that once the election is over, the ongoing war will cause the President and Congress to reactivate the draft. What would that mean?

The draft lottery and how it would work

If the draft was reauthorized by the President and Congress, a lottery would be set up to determine the order by which young people would be called to serve. First eligible would be those young men whose 20th birthday falls within the year of the authorization. Numbers 1 to 366, representing the days of the year including an extra day for leap year, would be placed in individual capsules and put into a drum. In a separate drum would be 366 numbered capsules representing the order for calling up those dates. One capsule from each drum would then be paired.

For example, if number 52 was drawn and the date was July 15, it would mean that 20-year-olds with that birthday would be the 52nd group drafted that year. Similar pairings would be drawn to determine the order of birth dates for call up. Once the 20-year-old pool is exhausted, or once the year ends, the process would begin again with those who turned 21, then 22, 23, 24, 25, 19 and 18. Twenty-year olds who were not called would then be last on the list, as would those from each year that are not called.

Who would be excused from service?

During the Vietnam War era, students who were enrolled full time in college were granted a deferment until graduation. Teachers were given occupational deferments.

That has been changed. Under the new regulations, a college student would be allowed to finish his or her current semester. A senior could finish out the academic year. There are no longer any occupational deferments. Ministry students and those who are already ministers in their religion are excused from service, as are conscientious objectors who fall into two categories: those who will perform civilian service in lieu of military service and those who will not perform any service based on their principled objection to the military in general. Under the provisions of S.89, service either in the military or as a civilian for the purpose of homeland security would be required by women as well as men.

Young, who is a reserve officer in the Navy, has recently been recruiting members of the regional draft boards to fill vacancies as board members’ terms of 20 years expire. Young has said that in his view, “Nothing has changed that would indicate that the draft is about to be revived.” He is responsible for overseeing boards in Orange, Sullivan, Ulster, Putnam, Rockland and Dutchess Counties.