Selective Service System SSS

The Selective Training and Service Act, signed on September 16, 1940, created the first peacetime draft in American history and the Selective Service System to run it. The agency drafted millions of men for World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, using local draft boards and, from 1969, a lottery. Induction authority expired on July 1, 1973, when the military became all-volunteer, and registration was suspended in 1975. President Carter restored registration by proclamation on July 2, 1980, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The agency is led by a Director.

Today nearly all men who are U.S. citizens or immigrants living in the country must register within thirty days of turning eighteen and remain in the registry until age twenty-six. Selective Service cannot draft anyone without new legislation from Congress and the President, but it maintains plans to hold a lottery, call registrants for examination, and organize local boards and alternative service for conscientious objectors if a draft were authorized. Men who fail to register can be barred from federal jobs and some state benefits.

Whether women should be required to register has been debated since the Supreme Court upheld the men-only system in 1981, partly because women were then barred from combat. After combat roles opened to women in 2015, a national commission recommended in 2020 that registration include women, but Congress has not adopted the change. Lawmakers have also considered automatic registration using federal data. Supporters say the registry is cheap insurance for a national crisis, while critics argue it is outdated and should be ended.