# Ask the Draft Board member. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 12, 2005, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954 "2005-04-12T12:28:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/1 "2005-04-12T12:28:03Z")
Selective Service local board member, actually. The local board is for a large county in Northern Virginia, and I recently completed training for the position. There was interest expressed before in a thread of this nature, given the popularity of this topic on these boards. I’ll answer questions about Selective Service policies as I understand them, board procedures, and my own motivations for volunteering for this position. Debates about the draft are probably best suited for another thread. I’ll also happily discuss conscientious objectors, as it is local boards that interview men seeking this status and determine their status. I’ll answer the biggest question right away - the boards are currently in standby, and there has been no indications whatsoever of any draft. As any change in this status will have to come from Congress, it’s likely we’ll get lots of warning prior to any startup of conscription. Any takers? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/2 "2005-04-12T12:35:12Z")
I thought the title said ‘Daft’. How daft. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/3 "2005-04-12T12:36:05Z")
#1- Do you feel like the Maytag repairman? #2- Is color blindness something that can get you out of the draft? #3- How would you know if someone did not register for the draft? #4- If someone declared homosexuality, would that get them out of the draft? Would you make any attempt to verify such a claim? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/4 "2005-04-12T12:51:55Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > #1- Do you feel like the Maytag repairman? > > #2- Is color blindness something that can get you out of the draft? > > #3- How would you know if someone did not register for the draft? > > #4- If someone declared homosexuality, would that get them out of the draft? Would you make any attempt to verify such a claim? #1 - No, but only because I don’t get a nice uniform like his. 😉 If I’m ever called, this work will be considered important enough. I like things nice and peaceful, though, so I’m content to wait in readiness. #2 - Color blindness can keep you out of some military specialties, but not others. It depends on the type and severity of it, and all this is determined by the Military Entrance Processing Station, not a local draft board. #3 - Local boards aren’t enforcement arms of the Selective Service. We don’t know if someone hasn’t registered. That’s handled by the national office. In Virginia, registration rates are quite high, since Virginia automatically registers drivers license applicants. Other states do this too. #4 - Again, determinations of fitness for service are made by MEPS, and that does include claims of homosexuality. This is affected by the “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule in place since the 1990’s, and has been debated pretty well here in the past. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/5 "2005-04-12T13:08:47Z")
#5- How does one get on the local board? Suppose there are more volunteers for the local board than places for them- how do they determine who gets on? #6- Does it pay anything? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/6 "2005-04-12T13:19:36Z")
#5 - Actually, Selective Service has been trying to fill vacancies. At the time I applied, there were three unfilled places on a five member board. We now have a full board. The other two appointments were in my training class with me. #6 - The position is a volunteer one only, a violation of a promise I made after I got out of the Navy to not volunteer for anything ever again. I’m still waiting for $28 the government owes me for lunch and mileage for the day of training that I had. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/7 "2005-04-12T14:34:21Z")
I’ll keep the discussion rolling. Most determinations of things like student deferments, surviving son exemption, exemption for prior service, reserve service, or service in a foreign military are all handled by a Selective Service area office, with some of their decisions appealable to a local board. The local board automatically handles cases of conscientious objection, hardship, ministry students and ministers of religion. These cases are decided according to evidence provided, witness testimony, and testimony of the affected individual in an informal setting. The judgements of the area office and the local board are appealable to a District appeal Board, and also to a National Appeal Board. The decision of this board is considered final unless constitutional questions are raised that the courts can address. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/8 "2005-04-12T14:38:37Z")
I’ve always been curious-how soon after the naturalization process does the Draft Board send eligible new citizens their card? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/9 "2005-04-12T14:43:51Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > Most determinations of things like student deferments, surviving son exemption, exemption for prior service, reserve service, or service in a foreign military are all handled by a Selective Service area office, with some of their decisions appealable to a local board. > > The local board automatically handles cases of conscientious objection, hardship, ministry students and ministers of religion. These cases are decided according to evidence provided, witness testimony, and testimony of the affected individual in an informal setting. Evidently, because the latter are things that can be verified better at a local level – e.g. is this guy _really_ a minister of a church, as opposed to someone who got a ULC ordination over the Web, and his congregation is his Frat House . While the ones in the first paragraph can be checked out better agency-to-agency. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/10 "2005-04-12T14:48:02Z")
Do you guys have any duties now, or are you just waiting for the time when/if the draft will be reinstated? How often do you meet? In your last post you mentioned exemptions. Is this something people are dealing with now, or will it wait until people are actually drafted? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/11 "2005-04-12T14:57:48Z")
> [@Larry Borgia](#): > > Do you guys have any duties now, or are you just waiting for the time when/if the draft will be reinstated? How often do you meet? In your last post you mentioned exemptions. Is this something people are dealing with now, or will it wait until people are actually drafted? Duties now are to keep up with training, which we accomplish by meeting roughly annually. Deferments and exemptions will only be handled if there is an actual draft. Right now everybody should have the same status - registrants. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/12 "2005-04-12T14:58:55Z")
Does having Asperger’s Syndrome make one draft-ineligible? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/13 "2005-04-12T15:01:22Z")
Questions of medical and psychological fitness, as well as screening for felony convictions, are handled by the military itself at the MEPS. Asperger’s would be dealt with there. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/14 "2005-04-12T15:08:32Z")
In the Vietnam era, one major point of contention was the student deferment system. In theory, this was supposed to allow someone to serve after completing their studies. In practice, it became a vehicle to allow lots of men to avoid service entirely. In response to this, the law has since been changed. If you’re a college senior, you will be allowed to finish the academic year. Others will be allowed to finish the semester. High school students will get a deferment until their graduation date or their 20th birthday, whichever comes first. Instead of finishing school and then serving, the thinking now is that you can finish school after your service. Considering that the draft will take place only in a national emergency, IMO, this system seems much more fair. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/15 "2005-04-12T15:16:44Z")
How would you, personally, respond if Gordon Ligh- , I mean, if a new version of the Catonsville Nine showed up, either now, or _if_ a draft should come to pass? > [@](#): > > May 1968- Father Philip Berrigan (a Josephine priest and WWII vet) and Daniel Berrigan (brother and Jesuit priest) along with seven other people were arrested and became the “Catonsville Nine.” They went into a draft board office in Catonsville, Maryland, removed records, and set them on fire outside in the presence of reporters and onlookers. They were convicted and sentenced to prison. Daniel wrote in a “meditation”: > > “Our apologies, good friends, for the fracture of good order, the burning of paper instead of children, the angering of the orderlies in the front parlor of the charnel house…The time is past when good men can remain silent, when obedience can segregate men from public risk, when the poor can die without defense.” [http://www.mdfilmfest.com/2001/opening\_nite\_photos.html](http://www.mdfilmfest.com/2001/opening_nite_photos.html) > **[Philip Berrigan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Berrigan)** > > Philip Francis Berrigan, SSJ (October 5, 1923 – December 6, 2002) was an American peace activist and Catholic priest with the Josephites. He engaged in nonviolent, civil disobedience in the cause of peace and nuclear disarmament and was often arrested. > He later married a former nun, Elizabeth McAlister, in 1973; both were subsequently excommunicated by the Catholic Church before being reinstated. For eleven years of their 29-year marriage they were separated by one or both serving time in pris... Also, how would you respond to the original group, had you been a Draft Board member in the 60s? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/16 "2005-04-12T15:27:28Z")
The following are my own opinions. As a board member, I am charged not only with obeying and upholding the law, but also with helping to protect and defend the rights of people who have to deal with the board. It’s an important process, and the rights and lives of people are at stake in it. Given all that, I can’t have much sympathy with anyone who would try to disrupt the work being done, especially given that, properly done, it is as much about keeping deserving people out of the military as putting them in. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/17 "2005-04-12T19:09:50Z")
Do you have to be a member of the military to serve on the draft board? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/18 "2005-04-12T19:16:41Z")
In fact the opposite is true. Active duty and reserve military members cannot serve on local boards, nor can retired military members. I’m a Navy veteran myself, but not retired, and my reserve obligation ran out a few years ago. So I’m eligible to serve on the board. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/19 "2005-04-12T19:18:08Z")
From the selective Service website, some requirements to be a board member are that they be: U.S. citizens at least 18 years old not a retired or active member of the Armed Forces or any Reserve component live in the area in which the board has jurisdiction be willing to spend enough time at the position. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954/20 "2005-04-12T19:22:14Z")
what are the other board members like? Would you say that they would be the type of people one might expect (e.g., “pro-military,” more conservatives, etc) or might we be surpirsed by a hippie or two? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-draft-board-member/298954.md?page=2)