Stupid idea.
If it becomes necessary to mobilize for war (either before or after the fact), already knowing basic information about the pool of eligible citizens and resident aliens (yes, they are eligible for the draft, as well)and having an established system for them to be called into service in an orderly manner will be an important first step. If we disband the Selective Service and this need arises in the future, we would simply have to rebuild it all over again.
The former Marine Congressman fronting this legislation probably doesn’t appreciate the recruiting difficulties that would be experienced supporting a very rapid expansion of the armed forces using voluntary enlistment alone. He also probably isn’t aware that the proudly volunteer Marine Corps accepted draftees during WWII, Korea, and even Vietnam.
Today’s armed forces are small compared to those required to fight a major world war. For some perspective, consider that the present Marine Corps active forces are about 2 1/2 MEFs (division/wing/logistics group teams). During World Ward II, active Marine Corps forces were the equivalent of 6 MEFs. The US Navy presently has 233 commissioned ships. During WWII, it had over 1200. During WWII, the US Army numbered 51 infantry and armored divisions in the European Theater alone. The Eight Air Force of “12 O’clock High” fame had approximately 100 heavy bomber squadrons in it. The total US armed forces during WWII numbered some 14 million persons, if I recall the figures correctly. The current armed forces number approximately 1.4 million active and 800 thousand reserve.
I am not suggesting that the next major world war will require the force densities suggested by WWII order of battle numbers. But, if this future war goes on long enough and doesn’t go nuclear, a substantial mobilization will be required once existing regular forces begin experiencing significant casualties and other loses. Armed forces recruiters struggle to fill current force structure requirements. There is simply no way they could find enough qualified persons to voluntarily fill out a force structure that had to be two, three, or more times as large and filled FAST.
You beat me to it, well put.