US military draft rumours denied
A routine notice advertising the need for people to serve on US draft boards has prompted a flurry of press reports suggesting the Pentagon may restart the military draft.
But officials have denied any such moves.
“There are no secret discussions,” said Pat Schuback, a spokesman for the Selective Service System, the government agency that would be in charge of conscription if the US had it. “We aren’t doing any planning that we don’t do on a routine basis.”
The US hasn’t had a draft since 1973, when it was abolished during the latter months of the Vietnam War. Registration was reinstated in 1980, in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the law still requires that males who are US citizens or resident aliens register within 30 days of their 18th birthdays.
“It’s a plan on paper,” said Schuback. “We’re just an insurance policy. If we’re needed, we’re here, we’re ready.”
The independent government agency also hires and trains volunteers to serve on local draft boards, which would pass judgment on applications for deferments, postponements and exemptions from military service if conscription was reinstated.
About 10,000 to 12,000 people serve 20-year terms as unpaid board members. Schuback said because the current board system was set up in 1979, and the bulk of volunteers stayed the full 20 years, many of the appointments expired beginning in 1999.
That means hiring replacements has been going on for several years. Confusion arose in recent weeks when someone posted the hiring notice on a Pentagon website about the war on terror, even though the Selective Service System is not a part of the Defence Department.
“Serve Your Community and the Nation – Become a Selective Service System Local Board Member,” it said.
Several newspapers around the world posed questions about whether the government was planning to restart drafting enlistees.
The stories appeared as the news media wrote increasingly about the Pentagon’s extensive mobilisation of National Guard and Reserve troops for duty in Iraq.
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