# Heads up young male dopers, draft boards are gearing back up!! - Will you serve? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 3, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091 "2003-11-03T04:06:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/1 "2003-11-03T04:06:17Z")
Young male dopers! Eyes front! Chest Out! Re this Salon article [Oiling up the draft machine?](http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/11/03/draft/) The Pentagon is quietly moving to fill draft board vacancies nationwide. While officials say there’s no cause to worry, some experts aren’t so sure. If a draft is re-instituted will you serve? > [@](#): > > Not since the early days of the Reagan administration in 1981 has the Defense Department made a push to fill all 10,350 draft board positions and 11,070 appeals board slots. Recognizing that even the mention of a draft in the months before an election might be politically explosive, the Pentagon last week was adamant that the drive to staff up the draft boards is not a portent of things to come. There is “no contingency plan” to ask Congress to reinstate the draft, John Winkler, the Pentagon’s deputy assistant secretary for reserve affairs, told Salon last week. > > Increasingly, however, military experts and even some influential members of Congress are suggesting that if Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s prediction of a “long, hard slog” in Iraq and Afghanistan proves accurate, the U.S. may have no choice but to consider a draft to fully staff the nation’s military in a time of global instability. > > “The experts are all saying we’re going to have to beef up our presence in Iraq,” says U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, the New York Democrat. “We’ve failed to convince our allies to send troops, we’ve extended deployments so morale is sinking, and the president is saying we can’t cut and run. So what’s left? The draft is a very sensitive subject, but at some point, we’re going to need more troops, and at that point the only way to get them will be a return to the draft.” > > Rangel has provoked controversy in the past by insisting that a draft is the only way to fill the nation’s military needs without exploiting young men and women from lower-income families. And, some suggest, by proposing military service from middle- and upper-class men and women, Rangel may be trying to diminish the odds of actually using them in combat. But Rangel is hardly alone in suggesting that the draft might be needed. > > The draft, ended by Congress in 1973 as the Indochina War was winding down, was long a target of antiwar activists, and remains highly controversial both in and out of the military. Most military officers understandably prefer an army of volunteers and career soldiers over an army of grudging conscripts; Rumsfeld, too, has long been a staunch advocate of an all-volunteer force. > > According to some experts, basic math might compel the Pentagon to reconsider the draft: Of a total U.S. military force of 1.4 million people around the globe (many of them in non-combat support positions and in services like the Air Force and Navy), there are currently about 140,000 active-duty, reserve and National Guard soldiers currently deployed in Iraq – and though Rumsfeld has been an advocate of a lean, nimble military apparatus, history suggests he needs more muscle ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/2 "2003-11-03T04:20:34Z")
Hmm. \ Nope, no serving for me. In the event of a draft, I renounce my atheism and thank God for the physical disabilities that He has given me. ---
**Author:** ![Call\_me\_Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Call\_me\_Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Call_me_Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/3 "2003-11-03T04:21:14Z")
My understanding of the draft (and I believe it to be a very correct one) is that service is compulsory once drafted. So were anyone to be drafted they are legally required to serve. I imagine you’re asking “Would you dodge the draft?” and my answer is “No, I’m not a republican.” ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/4 "2003-11-03T04:22:27Z")
I’d steal Gunslinger and run to Canada. I really would. I’d probably have his family’s blessing in doing it. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/5 "2003-11-03T04:24:49Z")
Well, I am a healthy 20 year old male, which makes me a prime canidate for being drafted. Of course, I am already in ROTC, so a draft wouldn’t effect me in the slightest. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/6 "2003-11-03T04:37:54Z")
Well, I turn 18 in December, and if the draft were brought back, I know that I would dodge it. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/7 "2003-11-03T04:47:15Z")
It depends. If they reinstated a draft primarily because of the Iraq situation, and I was drafted, I would probably publically burn the draft notice and serve a term in prison. If I was drafted primarily for a war which I felt strongly in support of, I would probably publically burn the draft notice and then immediately enlist. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/8 "2003-11-03T04:58:41Z")
Don’t be so hard on our Republican leaders. It must be hell to contemplate having to ask young men to put themselves in harm’s way, knowing that you yourself dodged the draft any way you could when YOU were of age. ---
**Author:** ![whistlepig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/73ab20/32.png) [@whistlepig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whistlepig)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/9 "2003-11-03T05:11:54Z")
Yep, the draft is gonna occur. Right after we pass the ERA. Whistlepig ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/10 "2003-11-03T05:25:34Z")
If the draft were reinstated, I’d start furiously brushing up on my Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/11 "2003-11-03T05:45:59Z")
Eek! I just felt something brush up against me! ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/12 "2003-11-03T05:58:06Z")
I just read that article. And I’d fight it all the way and brush up on my Molsen and hockey. I’m not dying in some hellhole for G.W. Bush’s war. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Babbington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/13 "2003-11-03T06:01:49Z")
The Army is so technologically advanced now. There is no way that anyone can be drafted (i.e. Here’s a gun, kid, shoot some bastards) in the way people were during WWII and Vietnam. Draft-pushing politicians are looking for votes. It won’t happen. All you young’uns are in no danger. Don’t worry. If this “WAR” on terrorism requires a draft, the political viability of the current administration will tank in no time flat. It’s all good. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/14 "2003-11-03T06:33:36Z")
There will be no draft. The military is very, _very_ aware of the advantages of a highly trained, specialized, volunteer army. It would take something the scale of the Second World War or an invasion of mainland US soil for the US government to re-institute conscription. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/15 "2003-11-03T08:07:24Z")
With something like 52% of the population of the US **unhappy** with the way the Bush administration’s been handling post-war Iraq, Shrub would be committing political suicide to reinstitute the draft. Of course, I’m an old geezer (I turn 35 this month), so I’m exempt from the draft, not to mention I’m a student and I work for a company that supplies components for various defense contractors, so even if Bush were to decide that he was going to be a “Jimmy Carter” and reinstate the draft, I’ve got plenty of “outs” to avoid the draft. (However, were we in a WW II situation, I’d find a way to serve in the military damned fast.) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/16 "2003-11-03T08:31:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Babbington \* > \*\*The Army is so technologically advanced now. There is no way that anyone can be drafted (i.e. Here’s a gun, kid, shoot some bastards) in the way people were during WWII and Vietnam. \*\* Years ago I was travelling on an overnight train sharing a compartment with a soldier. We got talking and I said I’d hate to be in his position if a war ever broke out. He replied that he’d rather be in his position than mine, “I can train hundreds of civilians how to use the equipment and they can ship you all overseas. I’m too valuable, I **know** how everything works.” It would have been pretty funny if he’d been joking. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/17 "2003-11-03T08:34:34Z")
“Join the Mobile Infantry and save the Galaxy. Service guarantees citizenship. The only good Bug is a dead Bug. We’ll keep fighting— and we’ll _win!_ Would you like to know more?” ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/18 "2003-11-03T08:40:41Z")
What’s draft age, anyway? 18 to 25? ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/19 "2003-11-03T08:43:35Z")
I believe that since my fiance’s 26, he’d be too old to be drafted by the time something like this passed, if he isn’t already. My brother’s 29, so the same thing there. If the ERA were to be passed–and, seeing as I don’t think it’s been resurrected, that’s probably unlikely–I can honestly claim conscientious objector status, and so can my younger sister. My dad spent an hour last year convincing me that the draft was coming back, and that my fiance would likely be drafted. My dad’s a dick and was trying to scare me, as I found out from a massive online search. I don’t think the draft’ll be coming back unless something way major–think something on the same scale as September 11th, except officially backed by a government with some military might–were to happen. And, honestly, I don’t see that happening; the US has an annoying habit of either winning or severely injuring opposing contries or armies (didn’t win Vietnam, but the war lasted so long that the country was totally ravaged). ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091/20 "2003-11-03T08:52:30Z")
Incidentally, [here](http://www.sss.gov/Default.htm) is the website for the Selective Service, which gives a lot of information. According to that, **Joe K** , the draft is ages 18-25. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heads-up-young-male-dopers-draft-boards-are-gearing-back-up-will-you-serve/211091.md?page=2)