yes i realize, but many have told me that in order to qualify for federal aid, you have to sign it.

Did you also know Kestas is Australian?

You should talk to the Selective Service System for specifics, but I remember hearing that even illegal immigrants technically have to register for the draft. Rather than asking an internet forum you should go to the horse's mouth on this one.

http://www.sss.gov/must.htm

Exempt: Lawful non-immigrants on visas (e.g., diplomatic and consular personnel and families, foreign students, tourists with unexpired Form I-94, or Border Crossing Document DSP-150)

Law in Australia and USA is completely different. We have the English system of law here... not the American, so i doubt Kestas can help you unless he is practicing American law?

Nothing personal against you, idealist, but it amuses the ever living hell out of me that your first response when you determined there may be legal requirements you are subject to was not to go to the source and take three minutes to read the FAQ, but to come here to this hive of scum and villainy and hope some random internet freaks will be authorities on this specific issue

Note that it only applies to males. Females need not register.

It is a legacy from world war 2 that will never likely go away, because that's how bureaucracies work. Note that there is not a draft. You are just registering so that if there ever is a draft (which won't happen short of going to war with China) then they'll already have a list put together.

I guess technically it started with WW1 and was redone several times including for the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Is Kestas in law school? I always assumed he studied computer science?

Wasnt people drafted for the Vietnam War???

There is no draft now. Yes, there was a draft for Vietnam, but that was over 40 years ago.

How does the US supply soldiers to Iraq/Afghanistan? I know there is not a draft, but is it on some contractual basis?

We have an all volunteer army - people sign up for (I believe) four year tours.

Having said that, the army and marines have had a hard time keeping numbers up, and have used Stop Loss orders (of dubious constitutionality in my mind) to prevent people from resigning and leaving the military at the end of their tours

Stop Loss??

Either way, just out of curiousity, what is the pay for an army or marine soldier?

Perry, seriously, have you ever heard of this 'internet' thing?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop-loss_policy

http://www.militaryfactory.com/military_pay_scale.asp

So if you are a newly signed up Private , and go Iraq, you get approx $2000/month??
What a sweet deal ;)

And no, I have never heard about Internet. Could you fill me in on the basics?

I'm neither your mother nor your teacher, dude.

People (usually) don't join the military for the cash, although some of the benefits can be pretty decent. If you're incapable of figuring out their motivation without an explanation, then you're unlikely to grok it, and hence it would be a waste of time

to answer questions. no i did not know kestas was australian. yes i know you have to be male above 18 to sign. yes i realize this is a random forum. yes i did read the website and other sources.
i am merely asking to see what opinions are shared and find out a bit more about the draft. i simply don't want to sign whatever i am unfamiliar with.

anyways, thanks all.

There is no draft, it must be a scam of some sort.

No scam. American males aged 18 to 25 need to register with Selective Service. It's a requirement in order to apply for financial aid for college, and probably other things as well. It started up about 30 years ago in it's current form.

"it must be a scam of some sort"
- yes, it's a scam by the government to sneak you into compliance... When this was instituted, coming on the heels of the Vietnam War, there was a lot of public resistance to the idea of a draft... and the thought was that the next time there was a wartime draft the government would have a problem on their hands with people resisting... but now, when an actual draft happens, they'll have you already signed up on the dotted line... They have you sign up when it doesn't seem to matter (in peacetime when there is no draft) and then they have you.

What is interesting is that a male between the ages of 18 and 25 (I think) *must* be registered with selective service or they are committing a felony. So this is hardly a voluntary system and the same problems still apply as without it, it's just that there will be more court cases if the draft was ever reinstated. It's fucking stupid if you ask me.

"American males aged 18 to 25 need to register with Selective Service."

Selective Service is not the draft :teach:

Acosmist +1 - There is no draft, only the infrastructure ot support implemnbting it should Congress ever reinstate it.

Also, note that not all active personal in the armed forces at present volunteered for active duty in the armed forces. Many are reservists who already served their time and were called *back* to active duty while others are reservists or national guardsmen (and women) who never intended to serve on active duty but were activated as full time soldiers primarily for Iraq.

I'm sure Kestas isn't in law school...

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:H.R.163:

The bill to reintroduce the draft.

It failed 2-402. Sooo...yeah.

There's currently a court case by a Quaker who objects that there is no provision for Conscientious Objectors: http://www.wri-irg.org/node/8652

Quote: According to the US Military Selective Service Act, all males between the ages of 18 and 26 are required to register for compulsory military service. The Military Selective Service Act does not provide for registration as conscientious objector, or any special procedures for conscientious objectors. According to Conscience and Peace Tax International: "The significance is that no one liable to register may legally refrain from doing so on grounds of conscientious objection. Nor under the reintroduced registration system is there any way to be officially classified as claiming conscientious objector status at the time of registration, which had in fact previously been the obligatory time for lodging such a claim. The result is that those whose consciences will not permit them to register have no choice but to break the law."

It is interesting to note that the right to be a conscientious objector is supported by the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights... to which the U.S. is a signatory. But... like torture and indefinite detention, that doesn't mean that the government will do the right thing.

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=c49f21c117f6c428e059a2964e29d540&rgn=div8&view=text&node=32:6.2.2.19.10.0.8.8&idno=32

dexter -1

What the guy is apparently objecting to is registering, which has nothing to do with actually being drafted, at which time a person can assert the CO claim perfectly well. This is analogous to a person objecting to being required to file a tax return if he anticipates no tax liability.

http://www.sss.gov/FSconsobj.htm

The SSS site was slow so I couldn't get that link until now, but, yeah...

18 months ago, the military was seriously hurting, and Stop Loss was the only way they could keep enough tropps in-country. 2 wars with daily reports of casualties kept recruiting down.

With the economic crisis, suddenly all branches of the military have exceeded their recruiting goals.