With promises of troop withdrawals do we still need the Selective Service System?

By Ken Scarboro
February 23rd, 2011
Section: Opinions - Question of the Day

The Selective Service System requires all American males to sign up for conscription on their 18th birthday.

In the event of a conflict that requires more forces than the volunteer military can provide, Congress and the president can authorize a draft.  Registered men between the ages of 18 and 25 can be called to service.

In his State of the Union address in January, President Obama promised to begin bringing troops home from Afghanistan in July.

“This year, we will work with nearly 50 countries to begin a transition to an Afghan lead. And this July, we will begin to bring our troops home,” Obama said.

NATO and the president have promised more training for Afghanistan’s security forces and aim for a 42 percent increase in their forces by October 2012.

Is the Selective Service System still necessary if we are bringing troops home?

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  • Robert Leahy

    The Selective Service Act first enacted in 1917 has been revised several times to what we now know as the Selective Service of 1967 is vital to keep and should not under any circumstance be abolished. Our Government or any Government has an obligation or duty to maintain a military to protect it’s citizens; though our volunteer system sustains us, what if it fails. The SSA1967 is what we would have to rely on unless we wanted to impose a mandatory service of at least one year on all males after turning 18. The Draft has only been impose three times since the original enactment for war times. Though designed for 18-25 it offers defferments but you remain eligible for draft till the age of 35 if defferred.

    The notion to abolish a policy that has a need basis to fill a governments obligation Ailey because the government is withdrawing troops is absurd. SSA1967 will always be necessary.
    Just because we do not use the draft does not mean we should eliminate it.

    If we hypothetically abolished SSA1967, what happens the next time we are at war and what if the volunteer system fails us. Why set ourselves up for failure when we have a working system in place to protect us in such circumstance.

    Robert Leahy
    Robert.Leahy.664@my.Csun.edu