Though the Selective Service System as we know it today was not in use, the United States has used systems of conscription since the Revolutionary War era. Conscription was used in World War I with the draft mechanism in both instances being dissolved at the end of hostilities. In 1940, prior to U.S. entry into World War II, the first peacetime draft in our nation’s history was enacted in response to increased world tension and the system was able to fill wartime manpower needs smoothly and rapidly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. At the end of the war, the draft law was allowed to expire, but it was reenacted less than two years later to maintain necessary military manpower levels as a result of the Cold War.
From 1948 until 1973, during both peacetime and periods of conflict, men were drafted to fill vacancies in the armed forces which could not be filled through voluntary means. Induction authority expired in 1973, but the Selective Service System remained in existence in “standby” to support the all-volunteer force in case of an emergency. Registration was suspended early in 1975 and the Selective Service System entered into “deep standby”.
Beginning in late 1979, a series of “revitalization” efforts were begun in an effort to upgrade the System’s capability for rapid mobilization in an emergency. In the summer of 1980, registration was resumed. Presently, young men must register within 30 days of their 18th birthday.
Learn more about the historical changes in the Operations, methods of Registration, Classification, Sources of Manpower, and Selection and Induction throughout our country’s history.