1917 to 1920 Following the U.S.
declaration of war against Germany on 6 April, the
Selective Service Act of 1917 (40 Stat. 76) was passed by the
65th United States Congress on 18 May 1917, creating the Selective Service System. President
Woodrow Wilson signed the act into law after the
U.S. Army failed to meet its target of expanding to 1 million men after six weeks. The act gave the president the power to conscript men for military service. All men aged 21 to 30 were required to enlist for military service for a 12-month period. As of mid-November 1917, all registrants were placed in one of five new classifications. Men in Class I were the first to be drafted, and men in lower classifications were deferred. Dependency deferments for registrants who were fathers or husbands were especially widespread. The age limit was later raised in August 1918 to a maximum age of 45. The military draft was discontinued in 1920.
1940 to 1947 The
Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 was passed by
Congress on 16 September 1940, establishing the first peacetime
conscription in United States history. It required all men between the ages of 18 and 64 to register with the Selective Service. To register, men typically completed a D.S.S. Form 1 Military Draft Registration Card from the Director of Selective Service. Over 49 million draft cards, including
The Old Man's Draft, were completed. It originally conscripted all men aged 21 to 35 for a service period of 12 months. In 1941, the military service period was extended to 18 months; later that year, the age bracket was increased to include men aged 18 to 37. In 1940, the act had registered 16 million men between the ages of 21 and 36. Following the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and the subsequent declarations of war by the United States against the
Empire of Japan and, a few days later, against
Nazi Germany, the service period was subsequently extended in early 1942 to last for the duration of the war, plus a six-month service in the Organized Reserves. Until late 1942, the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps relied only on volunteers, and all those drafted before late 1942 went only to the Army or the Army Air Corps. Of those called up for service during the war, nearly 2 million were rejected by the draft boards for "neuropsychiatric reasons." The most common "neuropsychiatric reason" was homosexuality, which was considered to be a mental illness in the 1940s, and as such, the military refused to accept homosexuals. Another four million were rejected for medical or educational reasons, such as being near-sighted, having rotten teeth, or being illiterate. As too many men were rejected for health or education, the U.S. Army was forced to take remedial actions. During the war, 25,000 Army dentists pulled 15 million rotten teeth and placed 2.5 million sets of dentures while Army optometrists fitted 2.25 million men with eyeglasses. Nearly a million men took educational courses to teach them how to read and write. In November 1942, Congress passed the Tydings Amendment, exempting all agricultural workers from the draft, exempting 2 million men from serving in the war. The question of drafting African-American men caused much controversy, as President
Franklin D. Roosevelt had promised several civil rights leaders in 1940 that the draft would be a color-blind one, and the Selective Service Act of 1940 stated "there shall be no discrimination against any person on the account of race or color." However, the U.S. military practiced segregation during the war, as African Americans did not serve alongside men of other races and in practice were only drafted to keep the all-black units of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Army Air Force up to strength. Furthermore, the military, as a general rule, preferred to use African-American servicemen only in menial roles and as much as possible tried to avoid sending African-Americans into combat out of a belief that they were not brave enough. As such, the Army in particular did not form many divisions out of the African-American men drafted, which limited the number subject to the draft. Due to these practices, in early 1943, African-Americans made up 10.6% of the American population, but only 6% of the men serving in the military. The issue of conscientious objectors was controversial during the war. In World War I, only the so-called "peace churches," namely the Mennonites, the Quakers, and the Brethren, had been allowed to reject national service on grounds of conscience. The 1940 Selective Service Act allowed the same exemption to the "peace churches" but also allowed anyone "who, because of religious training or belief, is conscientiously opposed to participation in war in any form." In practice, draft boards would exempt anyone who proved they were opposed to war on the grounds of some religious belief, which allowed more to claim conscientious objector status than had been the case in World War I. About 75,000 individuals claimed conscientious objector status; about half of these claims were accepted by the draft boards. Married men were exempt from the draft, and in late 1940, about 40% of those called up for the draft could evade it by promptly getting married. In February 1942, General Hershey, who was responsible for the draft, complained "that most of the recent marriages...might have been to evade the draft." In his 1945
State of the Union address, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt requested that the draft be expanded to include female nurses (male nurses were not allowed) to overcome a shortage that was endangering military medical care. This sparked a debate in the House of Representatives about the drafting of all women, which ultimately failed. The House passed a bill to draft nurses, but it died without a vote in the Senate. The publicity caused more nurses to volunteer, and agencies streamlined recruiting. The Selective Service System created by the 1940 act was terminated by the act of 31 March 1947. All men 18 years and older had to register with the Selective Service. All men between the ages of 18 and 25 were eligible to be drafted for a service requirement of 21 months. This was followed by a commitment for either 12 consecutive months of active service or 36 consecutive months of service in the reserves, with a statutory term of military service set at a minimum of five years total. Conscripts could volunteer for military service in the regular United States Army for a term of four years or the Organized Reserves for a term of six years. Due to deep postwar budget cuts, only 100,000 conscripts were chosen in 1948. In 1950, the number of conscripts was greatly increased to meet the demands of the
Korean War (1950–1953). The outbreak of the Korean War led to the creation of the
Universal Military Training and Service Act of 1951. This lowered the draft age from 19 to , increased active-duty service time from 21 to 24 months, and set the statutory term of military service at a minimum of eight years. Students attending a college or training program full-time could request an exemption, which was extended as long as they were students. A Universal Military Training clause was inserted that would have made all men obligated to perform 12 months of military service and training if the act were amended by later legislation. Despite successive attempts over the coming years, however, such legislation was never passed. President
John F. Kennedy set up (signed on 10 September 1963), granting an exemption from conscription for married men between the ages of 19 and 26. His vice president and later successor as president,
Lyndon B. Johnson, later rescinded the exemption for married men without children by (signed on 26 August 1965 and going into effect on midnight of that date). However, married men with children or other dependents and men married before the executive order went into effect were still exempt. President
Ronald Reagan revoked both of these exemptions with in February 1986. The
Military Selective Service Act of 1967 expanded the ages of conscription to the ages of 18 to 55. It still granted student deferments but ended them upon either the student's completion of a four-year degree or his 24th birthday, whichever came first.
1969 to 1975 On 26 November 1969, President
Richard Nixon signed an amendment to the Military Selective Service Act of 1967 that established conscription based on random selection (lottery). There were a total of seven draft lotteries between 1969 and 1975. The
first draft lottery was held on 1 December 1969; it determined the order of call for induction during calendar year 1970, for registrants born between 1 January 1944 and 31 December 1950. The highest lottery number called for possible induction was 195. The second lottery, on 1 July 1970, pertained to men born in 1951. The highest lottery number called for possible induction was 125. The third was on 5 August 1971, pertaining to men born in 1952; the highest lottery number called was 95. In 1971, the
Military Selective Service Act was further amended to make registration compulsory; all men had to register within a period 30 days before and 29 days after their 18th birthdays. Registrants were classified as
1-A (eligible for military service),
1-AO (
conscientious objector available for non-combatant military service), and
1-O (conscientious objector available for alternate community service). Student deferments were ended, except for
divinity students, who received a
2-D Selective Service classification. Men who were not classifiable as eligible for service due to a disqualification were classified
1-N. Men who are incapable of serving for medical or psychological unfitness are classified
4-F. Upon completion of military service, the classification of
4-A was assigned. Draft classifications of
1-A were changed to
1-H (registrant not currently subject to processing for induction) for men who were not selected for service after their draft eligibility year. These—and other—draft classifications were in place long before 1971. Also, requirements for draft board membership were reformed: the minimum age of board members was dropped from 30 to 18; members over 65 or who had served on the board for 20 or more years had to retire; and membership had to proportionally reflect the ethnic and cultural makeup of the local community. On 27 January 1973,
Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announced the creation of an all-volunteer armed forces, negating the need for the military draft. The seventh and final lottery drawing was held on 12 March 1975, pertaining to men born in 1956, who would have been called to report for induction in 1976. But no new draft orders were issued after 1972.
1975 to 1980 On 29 March 1975, President
Gerald Ford, whose own son,
Steven, had earlier failed to register for the draft as required, signed Proclamation 4360 (Terminating Registration Procedures Under Military Selective Service Act), eliminating the registration requirement for all 18- to 25-year-old male citizens.
1980 to 2026 On 2 July 1980, President
Jimmy Carter signed Proclamation 4771 (Registration Under the Military Selective Service Act) in response to the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the previous year of 1979, retroactively re-establishing the Selective Service registration requirement for all 18- to 26-year-old male citizens born on or after 1 January 1960. As a result, only men born between 29 March 1957, and 31 December 1959, were completely exempt from Selective Service registration. The first registrations following Proclamation 4771 occurred at various
post offices across the nation on 21 July 1980 for men born in the calendar year 1960. Pursuant to the presidential proclamation, all those men born in 1960 were required to register that week. Men born in 1961 were required to register the following week. Men born in 1962 were required to register during the week beginning 5 January 1981. Men born in 1963 and after were required to register within 30 days before or after their 18th birthday. H.R. 4523 would end draft registration and eliminate the authority of the president to order anyone to register for the draft, abolish the Selective Service System, and effectively repeal the "Solomon Amendments" making registration for the draft a condition of federal student aid, jobs, and job training. The bill would leave in place, however, laws in some states making registration for the draft a condition of some state benefits. On 9 June 2016, a similar bill was introduced in the
United States Senate, called the "Muhammad Ali Voluntary Service Act." On 27 April 2016, the House Armed Services Committee voted to add an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 to extend the authority for draft registration to women. On 12 May 2016, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to add a similar provision to its version of the bill. If the bill including this provision had been enacted into law, it would have authorized (but not required) the president to order young women as well as young men to register with the Selective Service System. The House-Senate conference committee for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 removed the provision of the House version of the bill that would have authorized the president to order women as well as men to register with the Selective Service System but added a new section to create a "
National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service" (NCMNPS). This provision was enacted into law on 23 December 2016 as Subtitle F of Public Law 114–328. The commission was to study and make recommendations by March 2020 on the draft, draft registration, registration of women, and "the feasibility and advisability of modifying the military selective service process in order to obtain for military, national, and public service individuals with skills (such as medical, dental, and nursing skills; language skills; cyber skills; and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills) for which the Nation has a critical need, without regard to age or sex." During 2018 and 2019, the commission held both public and closed-door meetings with members of the public and invited experts and other witnesses. In February 2019, Judge
Gray H. Miller of the
United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas heard a challenge to the Military Selective Service Act, which provides for the male-only draft, by the
National Coalition for Men. Judge Miller deemed the act unconstitutional.
Miller's opinion was based on the
Supreme Court's past argument in
Rostker v. Goldberg (1981), which had found the male-only draft constitutional because the military then did not allow women to serve. As the Department of Defense has since lifted most restrictions on women in the military, Miller ruled that the justifications no longer apply, and thus the act requiring only men to register would now be considered unconstitutional under the
Equal Protection Clause. The government appealed this decision to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments on the appeal were heard on 3 March 2020. The District Court decision was reversed by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. A petition for review was declined by the U.S. Supreme Court. In December 2019, the bipartisan "Selective Service Repeal Act," a bill to repeal the Military Selective Service Act and abolish the Selective Service System, H.R. 5492, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representatives
Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and
Rodney Davis (R-IL). This bill was reintroduced in both the House (H.R. 2509) and the Senate (S. 1139) on 14 April 2021. In January 2020, the Selective Service System website crashed following the
U.S. airstrike on Baghdad International Airport. An
Internet meme about the event being the beginning of
World War III began
gaining in popularity very quickly, causing an influx of visitors to the Selective Service System website, which was not prepared to handle it.
December 2026 and after An "automatic" registration provision was included and enacted in Section 535 of the NDAA for fiscal year 2026. Beginning on December 18, 2026, the Selective Service System will be required to identify, locate, and register all male (as assigned at birth) U.S. citizens and residents 18 to 26 years old on the basis of other existing federal databases. Men will no longer be required to register themselves or be subject to penalties for failing to do so. This was noted to be the most significant change to Selective Service since the self-registration system began in 1980. Regulations implementing and establishing procedures for "automatic" registration, including notices required for data collection, data matching, and data use, will be issued by the Selective Service System in 2026. In March 2026, a coalition of 45 antiwar, religious, feminist, and civil liberties organizations issued a joint statement opposing the automatic registration of individuals for a military draft and calling for repeal of the Military Selective Service Act. == Who must register ==