{
  "id": "RL31682",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL31682",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101470,
      "date": "2002-12-31",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:01:22.241941",
      "title": "The Military Draft and a Possible War with Iraq",
      "summary": "Since the possibility of a second major war with Iraq became apparent in mid-2002, interest and\nconcern about a return to the draft have manifested themselves for the first time since the 1991\nPersian Gulf War. As was the case in 1991, a review of military manpower levels and potential war\nscenarios suggests that only a prolonged war, with major military reverses for U.S. forces, or new\ninternational developments creating the need for substantially larger armed forces, would result in\na military requirement to reinstitute the draft. Virtually all proposed scenarios for a war with Iraq\nassume that it would not last long enough, result in high enough American casualties, or require\nenough additional forces to necessitate a draft. The  military  rationale for resuming the\ndraft to meet\nthe needs of the armed forces for manpower during an Iraqi war, therefore, does not seem to be\ncompelling.\n  However, there are possible scenarios that might tax the ability of the armed forces to recruit\na sufficient number of volunteers. One such scenario could combine an Iraqi conflict with other\nconfrontations (e.g., North Korea). Other scenarios could involve the need for very large peacetime\ndeployments of U.S. forces (e.g., the possible occupation of a defeated Iraq) or major demands for\ndomestic deployments based on threatened or actual terrorist activity.\n  Some of the  sociological  arguments in favor of conscription involve different\n interpretations\nof the same data; others are more philosophical and not related to quantitative analysis or\ninterpretation. While African Americans are present in the enlisted ranks to a considerably greater\nextent than their proportion of the American population, the Hispanic proportion is less, rather than\nmore, than their presence in the American population . If upper-middle class youth appear to be\nunderrepresented in the enlisted ranks, they are present in the officer corps. Throughout American\nhistory there has been a debate about whether compulsory military service is (1) a civic responsibility\nand display of patriotism, not subject to individual whim as to whether it is performed or not; or (2)\na violation of individual liberties that, if implemented at all, should only be used in times of grave\nemergency. \n  Legal authority for the involuntary induction of men into the Armed Forces expired on July 1,\n1973. New legislation would be required to reinstate an active draft. Currently the Selective Service\nSystem operates on standby status. Young men are required to register with the system within 30\ndays before or after their 18th birthday. If the draft were to be reactivated, young men age 18\nthrough 26 would be subject to induction (up to age 35 if deferred when initially called). Student\ndeferments were drastically restricted by law after they caused so much controversy during the\nVietnam War of 1964-1973. Graduate student deferments were in fact abolished early in the\nVietnam War, in 1966. Under current law, undergraduates who were drafted would be allowed to\nfinish an ongoing academic semester (or their senior year, if about to graduate), and would then have\nto report for induction. Married men would not be exempt from any actual draft. This report will\nbe updated as events warrant.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL31682",
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economic Policy",
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}