COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Draft: General
Military Draft System To Be Tested
Associated Press
Dec. 22, 2006
The Selective Service System is makingplans to testits draft machinery in case Congress and President Bush need
it, even though the White House says it doesn't want to bring back the
draft.
The agency is planning a comprehensive test — not run since 1998 — of
itsmilitary draft systems, a Selective Service official said. The test itself
would not likely occur until 2009.
At the direction of the White House, reports CBS News correspondent
Mark Knoller, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson is making it clear
he isnot advocating the reinstatement of a military draft. He told a news
conference that society would benefit from a return to the draft, but a
few hours later, after the White House disavowed the remark, Nicholson
issued a statement in line with administration policy. He said he strongly
supports the all-volunteer military and does not support returning to a
draft.
President Bush has repeatedly stated that the all-volunteer army would
remain all-volunteer.
"We're kind of like a fire extinguisher. We sit on a shelf," Scott
Campbell, the service's director for operations and chief information
officer, said. "Unless the president and Congress get together and
say,'Turn the machine on' ... we're still on the shelf."
The administration has for years forcefully opposed bringing back the
draft, and the White House said Thursday that policy has not changed
andno proposal to reinstate the draft is being considered.
The "readiness exercise" would test the system that randomly chooses
draftees by birth date and its network of appeal boards that decide how to
deal with conscientious objectors and others who want to delay
reportingfor duty, Campbell said.
The Selective Service will start planning for the 2009 tests next June or
July, although budget cuts could force the agency to cancel them,
Campbellsaid.
President Bush said this week he is considering sending more troops to
Iraq and has asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to look into adding
moretroops to the nearly 1.4 million uniformed personnel on active duty.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, increasing
theArmy by 40,000 troops would cost as much as $2.6 billion the first
yearand $4 billion after that. Military officials have said the Army and
Marine Corps want to add as many as 35,000 more troops.
Recruiting new forces and retaining current troops is more complicated
because of the unpopular war in Iraq. In recent years, the Army has
accepted recruits with lower aptitude test scores.
In remarks to reporters, Nicholson recalled his own experience as a
company commander in an infantry unit that brought together soldiers of
different backgrounds and education levels "in the common purpose of
serving."
Rep. Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, plans to introduce a bill next
year to reinstate the draft. House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi has said
such a proposal would not be high on the Democratic-led Congress'
prioritylist.
Hearst Newspapers first reported the planned test for a story sent to its
subscribers for weekend use.
The military drafted people during the Civil War and both world wars and
between 1948 and 1973. Reincorporated in 1980, the Selective Service
System maintains a registry of 18-year-old men, but call-ups have not
occurred since the Vietnam War.
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