The Draft

The Selective Service Training Act, more commonly known as the Draft, has been in place since
September 16th, 1940. President Roosevelt signed this act into law in order to have protection
within World War II if the U.S were to become involved. Although the draft is not currently in
place, every male citizen of the United States between the ages of 18 and 26 must sign up for it
or face consequence under U.S law. Although males have eight years to sign up for the draft
without any penalty, most will have to sign up at the age of 18 due to many scenarios and
positions that require draft regulation. These situations include students applying for federal aid
for college, adults interested in participating in federal job training through the Job Training
Partnership Act, adults applying for a job within the federal government, and adults applying for
a citizenship. In order to receive any of these benefits under U.S law, an adult male must be
registered for the draft.
The draft has not been utilized since the Vietnam war and even registration for the draft was not
in place between 1973 and 1980. In 1980, the Department of Defense Authorization Act (1980)
called for the reactivation for the registration of the draft. During this time, President Carter
recommended that women be required to register for the draft and, if selected, would undergo the
same process of examination that men would undergo to be eligible for entrance to the military.
Despite his recommendation, women were not required by law to register but are still eligible to
enlist in certain areas of the military. Out of this decision, court cases such as Rostker v.
Goldberg did arise but were not successful in requiring women to register for the draft. The
Supreme Court ruled that the decision of the draft is entirely under the jurisdiction of Congress
and because the draft is in place as a backup pool of potential inductees, women and men would
be treated differently under it due to eligibility requirements, such as the law that prevents
women from direct ground combat.
The draft today is similar to the draft that was last used during the Vietnam War, however some
changes have been made to make it more equitable. During the Vietnam draft, students were able
to postpone their service until after they finished school, however may arguments arose that this
was unfair to those who couldnt afford college as it sent many lower and middle class men to
serve while the upper class men were able to pay for college to avoid service. Under new draft
laws, a student may still postpone service but only until the end of his semester of until
graduation if he is a senior. This guarantees that students will never be able to postpone service
for more than a year and ensures that both those who can and cannot pay for education can be
drafted to serve. Similarly, local draft boards are now required to represent the racial and ethnic
identity of the communities they serve. Membership must align with the makeup of the
community in order to fairly serve all members of the served area. Apart from making the draft
more equitable, the law has also been changed so that potential draftees only have to be uncertain
about whether they will be drafted or not during their year of the draft. During the Vietnam draft,
everyone registered for the draft was eligible to serve from the age of eighteen to the age of
twenty-five, causing uncertainty for the draftees for many years. Today, one year of birth is
chosen for the draft at a time, so a potential draftee is only in the first priority pool for one year,
greatly diminishing the time of uncertainty. In many ways the draft has remained unchanged, but
the changes made allow for greater equity among potential draftees and lessen the burden of
worry within the pool.

In the case of a draft, a system more commonly known as the lottery falls into place. To begin,
the lottery, those turning twenty the year the draft begins are first to be chosen. Once the twenty
year olds have been chosen, the second group in priority is twenty-one year olds, then twentytwo year olds, and so on. The lottery is performed in full view of the public and uses two
machines, one with 365 or 366 balls in it depending on whether the year is a leap year or not, and
the other with 32 balls in it. In the bigger drum, each ball is labeled with a date of the year and in
the smaller drum each ball is labeled with a number from 1 through 32. Each date is chosen at
the same time as a number and people are drafted in the order of the numbers. For example, if
January 1st is chosen along with the number six, everyone turning the chosen age on January 1st
will be drafted in the sixth group, after the dates that correspond with numbers one through five.
Once the draft is in place, classifications of the draftees take place. Classification is a different
model for determining who is eligible for the military that takes place before the regular military
eligibility requirements. Classifications only take place in the time of a draft because the draft
mandates service if it is called for, whereas the regular enlistment process is voluntary.
Classification is used so that draftees can be sorted into groups based on whether they are
immediately ready for service or have filed a claim for a deferral, exemption, or postponement.
The first classification, known as 1-A, is the classification for draftees who are eligible for
military service immediately upon being drafted as they do not qualify or do not file for an
exemptions. 1-O and 1-A-O are both conscientious objector classifications. 1-O is a
conscientious objection in which the draftee is opposed to combatant and non-combatant service,
so he is fulfills his service as a civilian service worker. 1-A-O is a conscientious objection in
which the draftee is opposed to combatant service, so he fulfills his service in a non-combatant
position. 2-D and 4-D are classifications dealing with religious practitioners. 2-D classification
calls for a deferment of service for all Ministerial students and 4-D calls for an exemption for all
Ministers of Religion. For men whose families are dependent on their presence, 3-A is a
classification for deferment based on hardship that will be brought to the draftees family, known
as the Hardship Deferment. If a draftee is an alien or a dual national, he may be eligible for
classification 4-C, which sometimes allows a draftee to be exempt from service depending on his
claim. The most common postponement is a student postponement. This allows a college student
to postpone service until the end of his semester or the end of his senior year if he is a senior. If
the student is in high school, he may postpone his service until graduation or until he turns
twenty. Each classification may be appealed to a Selective Service Appeal Board.