The Selective Service System, in the United States, is a system to register all males over the age of 18 for the purpose of having information available about potential soldiers in case of war. Though the United States abandoned conscription in 1973, the Selective Service System remains as a contingency should the measure be reintroduced.
The Selective Service is the means by which the United States administers military conscription. In 1917, after the United States entered World War I, Congress passed the Selective Service Act. Men were selected for service by lottery. The lottery was the random selection by number. Eligible men between the age 18 and 45 were drafted. Only 2.8 million men out of 24 million registered were called up.
In the United States the draft law was allowed to expire in 1947 because it was thought that a sufficient number of volunteers would enlist for the nation’s defense. But the number of volunteers was not enough, and a new draft act had to be passed in 1948. Between 1948 and 1967 several draft laws were enacted. According to these laws, every man had to register with his draft board when he reached the age of 18. The Selective Service System is an independent agency within the Executive Branch of the federal government.
On December 1, 1969, a draft lottery was held.
Currently, all male US citizens are required to register with Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday. Certain male aliens residing in the US, including those present illegally, are also required to register if they are from 18 to 25 years of age.
The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 was passed by the Congress of the United States on September 6, 1940 becoming the first peacetime conscription in United States history.
A new selectiveservice act was passed in 1948 that required all men between 18 and 26 register and that made men from 19 to 26 liable for induction for 21 months' service, which would be followed by 5 years of reserve duty.
Though the United States halted conscription in 1973, the SelectiveService remains as a means to register American males upon reaching the age of 18 as a contingency should the measure be reintroduced.
The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 was passed by the Congress of the United States on September 16, 1940, becoming the first peacetime conscription in United States history.
Although the SelectiveService System is authorized by the SelectiveService Act, some argue the constitutionality of the act, claiming the law violates the Thirteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by providing for military conscription.
Class 4-G: Registrant exempted from service because of the death of his parent or sibling while serving in the Armed Forces or whose parent or sibling is in a captured or missing in action status.
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