Posted on 05/17/2026 9:52:17 AM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Thursday to abolish the government agency that keeps a list of men eligible for the military draft. The senators say the agency, known as the Selective Service System, is costly and a relic of the past, operating with a budget of $31 million per year to prepare for a draft that has not occurred since 1973. “Our volunteer military forces are the strongest in the world, and there is no need to replicate the same draft that sent 2 million unwilling young men to war 50 years ago,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Wyden cosponsored the bill alongside Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming. Paul, a vocal advocate for congressional war powers, said Congress will declare war if it is worth fighting, and people will volunteer to fight it.
“This outdated government program no longer serves a purpose and should be eliminated permanently,” he said.
The bill comes as the Selective Service will begin automating the registration of men ages 18 to 25 for a potential draft, removing a decades-old requirement that male U.S. citizens and most male residents register themselves. News that the agency was moving forward with the automation, which will pull information from various federal government databases and is expected to be completed by December, sparked fears of a potential draft stemming from the current war against Iran. But lawmakers say the days of calling up young men to fight are over.
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
Any attempt at a draft would be met with orders of magnitude more resistance than what happened Vietnam era. And for good reason, even with Trump momentarily in charge.
“...no need to replicate the same draft that sent 2 million unwilling young men to war 50 years ago,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore....
I was included among the millions who were drafted in the Post WWII era. “Unewilling” was not a label pasted on us. Those unwilling that Wyden describes — and best describes Wyden himself and his cowardly cohort — are those close to his generation, and it excludes thousands of draftees who participated in Viet Nam epoch.
Rand signed on because it’s another “look at me” opportunity.
Well said.
So that is one vote from you for a 50% female military.
Picture Zelenski when Putin invaded. Closing the border Berlin Wall style-was that the answer? We just might need these records. Those 70% that don’t qualify should be put up at the front. obesity might not matter if they can handle computers and if they’re the first ones killed it’s good for the gene pool.
2 years of service for 18 year olds. Just make it 20 years to become an adult and give those teenagers in the military adult status. I’m tired of adult 18 year old murderers being referred to as ‘teenagers’ by the MSM. Young ferals should be drafted and our own foreign legion created.
At least this position is internally consistent.
No Congress is ever going to authorize a draft. Since that is true, spending $31 million on an unnecessary function is bad.
Rand Paul is quite DOGE-minded and not into foreign aid. He’s one of the people behind this.
Yeah, I recall reading that before. Very depressing.
“””””Yes, the good ol’ days as a 10 year old watching older cousins and older relatives of friends get called up for Vietnam.”””””
Yet unlike WWII and the Korean War the Vietnam War was overwhelmingly fought by volunteers.
Surely many of your cousins and relatives were enlisting to serve their country and not just being drafted?
SAVE Act, smooth brains.
Penny smart, Pound foolish.
I was a senior in high school in 1968. The recruiter’s pitch was “sign up, we guarantee 2 years in Germany. Wait for the letter, we guarantee Vietnam”
I haven’t seen a breakdown. Do you have actual numbers of volunteer vs drafted soldiers and Marines who served in SVN?
They were drafted or enlisted to be able to pick the branch and avoid being drafted into an unknown branch. Although I know of one who caught the eye of a Marine recruiter when enlisting for the AF and got diverted. Good times.
The draft and historical amnesia
VFW Magazine, March, 2003
“No 20th century war could have been waged, much less won, without draftees. During WWI, 72% of servicemen were drafted—50% of the men in France’s trenches were conscripted.
In WWII, 66% of all U.S. forces were drafted. Of the 10.5 million Army personnel, a whopping 93% were draftees. A poll taken in 1941 showed that just more than half of Americans would be willingly drafted for overseas service.
From 1946 to 1973, 5,077,185 men were drafted. During the Korean War era, 30% of total troops were drafted. In December 1950, 82% of the Army in Korea was made up of regulars. Exactly two years later, the ratio was 37% regular to 63% draftee in the war zone.
During the Vietnam era, 1,728,344 men were drafted. Of the forces who actually served in Vietnam, 648,500 (25%) were draftees. Draftees (17,725) accounted for 30.4% of combat deaths in Vietnam.”
This is my first “stopped reading at...”
Sen. Ron Wyden (D) OR/NY
I joined the AF in my 20’s under Reagan and got an early release at 39 months under Bush.
LOL, nonsense read that post again, the Army and Marines were overwhelmingly made up of volunteers, as were the men who died fighting in Vietnam.
Even if what you say is true, and there is a lot out there contradicting it, you really think one could feel safe from that at the time? No way could anyone know for sure nor would I count on that supposed “all-volunteer” policy in making a decision to join or take a chance on being drafted. I volunteered when there was no draft and I knew what job I was getting and where. Getting straight 99’s on my ASVAB pretty much ensured that.
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