Draft registration is 18.

My son just turned 18 and they sent him a notice to register.

Are they gonna send draftees to Iraq? I thought the military was "professional"?

Yes, i think the draft is a bit outmodded as well. Yes, one might need a huge amount of troopes all of a sudden, and even if you are never drafted the though of war might make you ehink about your freedom better, there is no need to force people to join the roll. A voluntary call-me-up-if-the-chinese-invade draft would be almost as good and big. It would also weed out those who are pacifistic. The part if the draft legislation that calls up GreenCard holders does seem a bit idiotic. While these people are here and permenant residents, why should they have an inclination ar the need to fight when the are not citizens and most hold a lot of patriotism to their old nations.

What many may not realize is that the U.S. CFR description of militia, which hasn't changed since 1792, through executive orders can also be employed by FEMA as a labor force for recovery work in the event of a national emergency. One more tidbit, if the US were to reach back to the original 1792 and 1795 Militia Acts and employ the modified universial conscription that Switzerland is moving towards, all 20 to 28 years olds, to give them an immediate call up force of 250,000, in the US, this would come out to about 16 million men in reserve. Something to ponder as to how much more a deterent that would be when compared to the nuclear triad.

There is not a draft currently, and they only people who want one are the folks who opposed the war. They don't want it to fill military needs, they want it to undercut support for the war (since drafts are typically unpopular).

Definitly no draft. As along ago professional military officer the last thng I would want to wrestle with would be a pack of disgruntled draftees. A national emergency is one thing, I suspose WWII qualifies in some way. But if the war is not popular enough to attract volunteers the the national leaderrs have got something wrong. Short term draftees are clear loss in terms of training resources. It takes up to a year to train a decent soldier for the US Army, or a Marine, or a basic Airman or Sailor. And, longer for a skilled specialty. It takes three to four years to get a man spun up to the level of a junior NCO. Shake & bake as in the Viet Nam war just did not get it.

I personally think that the Draft for WW2 was a far greater success than that of Viet Nam, for the fact that the US was physically attacked and it woke up a lot of citizens enough to realize that the nation was not untouchable. In Viet Nam, had a communist incursion into the US as a terrorist strikle element occured, the public opinion of the US being there would have been different. Consider the massive surge in patriotism because of 9/11: simply for the fact that America was physically attacked and our citizens killed (and certainly the fact it was New York City, and a pair of land marks that defined the NYC skyline), US support against the terrorists was at an all-time high because, for the first time in a long time, the common citizen realized that we need some measure of security to prevent these things, and even if it includes pre-emptive strikes to prevent it again. Seems to me though, that those parents who have chosen NOT to let their children watch the footage, are probably the biggest anti-GWOT people in the country. Like those Green Card holders here who think it is not their job to defend this country in time of crisis, why the hell should the rest of us sacrifice our lives for all your ungrateful @sses? Were there ever some future conflict where the US gov't collapsed to the point a foreign military could openly invade us, I truly wonder how many of these citizens who claim to love America would sooner turn collaborator against their own citizens all for the sake of cuddling up to the security provided by sleeping with the enemy? It would certainly be a good opportunity for those of us who, in any way, shape, or form, actually DO/DID ever stand up for this country (not necessarily military service, but something worthy of being called patriotic service) could separate the TRUE Americans from those cowards who are only here to hide in safety and stability behind the sacrifices of others. To go after those "love thine enemy" pacifist bible thumpers, doesn't "their bible" suggest that, at the end of the war in Heaven when those angels revolted, God went after those pacifists who were waiting to see which side won and kicked them out next? I think there should be some kind of national service-related support infrastructure enacted that would allow a lot of people, who by military standards are physically unfit to serve, to do some kind of duty that serves the country. One thing that comes to mind is all this surge of civilian sub-contracting the government does for a lot of military-base-related contracts. This could involve anything from a civil service-type land equivalent of the merchant marine, to technicians who, like the Guard and Reserves, are available to use their civilian skills in support of the US military, be it voluntarily overseas or CONUS (I've known several senior techs in the Guard who, by proper military standards, are not physically fit to continue wearing the uniform, but their technical expertise on certain equipment, necessary in today's high-tech military, is superceded only by the engineers who designed the equipment: we shouldn't lose those people's capabilities entirely, just switch them into a civilian support element). I wouldn't suggest it be a mandatory requirement (like I think it should for every graduating high school student to swear the oath of US citizenship, just so they understand it), but I think serious incentives could be offered to encourage more selflessness (and patriotism) from our citizens, without many of them fearing military service, but still being able to proudly say, "yes I'm a true patriot and I did serve my country.) I also think that, like the ASVAB, SAT, and ACT, Civil Service exams should be offered in every high school across the country to seniors and perhaps juniors. Anything to instill more pride in the nation. Maybe that's our REAL problem: too much political party tug-of-warring has broken the sense of patriotism in today's youth and they no longer know exactly where to stand on issues and what patriotism even really means. :)

You must register for selective service within 30 days of turning 18 years old. Yes, even if you enlist you must register.

If you enlist and don't register you are liable to get a letter addressed to you care of your commender when the SSA starts their annual records scrub. (personal experience, not how you want to meet with your BCT company commander) Nothing of import came of it, it was just embarrassing at the time.