In 1980 was it fairly common to fail to register?
I wasn’t thrilled, but I registered in 1980.
I registered within the first week because I was told I had to.
Not at all. Failing to register came with stern warnings about status and citizen benefits. I registered in 1981.
Doesn’t matter whether there was a high number of people not registering. The fact of the matter is IF YOU DIDN’T REGISTER YOU ARE INELIGIBLE TO HOLD ANY GOVERNMENT JOB!!!!
Probably.
I registered for the real draft in 1968. I was deferred through medical school, which meant (under the law as it existed in 1968) I had a potential service obligation through 1992.
Almost all the administrative structure that I lived under from 1968-1973 vanished with the "end of the draft". Registration had basically ceased by 1975. If a doctor draft was ever instituted between 1975 and 1992, I don't believe there was a way for them to identify me as having a service obligation dating back to my II-S days.
The attempt to bring back registration, for a draft that was never going to happen, was quite halfhearted at first. Many 18 year olds that I knew of in the period 1975-1980 had no idea that registration existed, much less that it was required.