I was under the impression that the oldest age you could be drafted at was 26. I just heard that this was raised to 35 after the Gulf War. A web search has so far turned up nothing definitive.
Anyone know the answer?
Nothing definitive?? Are you saying you don’t believe the Selective Service’s website, or you didn’t find the Selective Service’s website?
This is as definitive as it gets:
http://www.sss.gov/FSwho.htm
It’s still 26 maximum, although you have to register when you’re 18.
The great weakness of the SSS is that it has very poor compliance with this registration requirement, particularly in the western states and in large cities. In the Vietnam era, the complaint was more or less that minorities from the inner cities were serving in disproportionate numbers. If we went with a draft as it presently exists, the near opposite would be the case, as registration compliance is pretty much a function of being a midwestern or southern farm boy.