Back to the Draft? Highly Unlikely Say Top Military Officials
By Sharon Anderson, 10.28.04

Fueled by e-mail, Internet chatter and the presidential campaign, the question of the draft remains a major concern between men and women between 18 and 26.

Brian Tamburello, a 23-year-old computer scientist, is at the age where a draft would pull him away from home and to the war front. The military is more professional than it was during Vietnam, Tamburello said.

“I have several friends in the Marines serving in Iraq, and they believe in what they are doing,” Tamburello said. “They have been in Iraq eight or nine months and are very motivated.”

Acting to disarm politically-charged rumors that the war in Iraq could revive a military draft, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly defeated a bill October 5 that would have restored mandatory service.

During a heated debate, Republicans charged that Democrats, led by John Kerry, deliberately fueled rumors that the White House would reinstitute the draft after the election. Kerry has also declared he has no plans to reinstate the draft, but his camp has been accused of scaring young people and their parents from voting for President George W. Bush.
While campaigning in Iowa, Kerry told reporters, "I've never said they're going to have a draft.”

Presidential Opposition
Administration officials including Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld both said there are not plans to restore the draft. They agree that an all-volunteer military is the proper way to field troops.

"We do not need a draft," Mr. Rumsfeld said during a radio interview with Sean Hannity. "We've got 295 million people in this country and we have an active force of about 1.4 million. We are having no trouble at all attracting and retaining the people that we need to serve in the Armed Forces."

Concerns remain over whether the thinly stretched Army can continue to recruit and retain enough soldiers to fight the war against terror in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If there are not enough people to serve, the Defense Department will increase military incentives to attract a larger force, Rumsfeld told Hannity.
“The idea of using compulsion and going back to a draft in this day and age I think is just a terrible idea and I would fight it vigorously,” Rumfeld said.

The Selective Service System
The Selective Service System has changed since the 1970s. According to the Selective Service’s Web site, if a draft were held today it would be the most equitable draft in history.

As a potential draftee Tamburello said that he would not like to see it reinstated.

“I would not be happy if there was a return to the draft, but I would serve. I wouldn’t leave the country or try to get out of it,” Tamburello said.

A Lottery to Determine the Call to Service
Under the new legislation a draft today would use a lottery system to decide the order of call. Before the latter part of the Vietnam conflict, the lottery system did not have a method to determine the order of call. Men between the ages of 18 and 26 were vulnerable to being drafted.

“I think the system is fairer than it was during Vietnam,” Tamburello said, “the lottery is a good way to make sure that everyone’s chances of being called are equal.”

Avoiding the Draft
During the Vietnam era many potential draftees joined the Navy, Air Force or the reserves to avoid being drafted into the Army and being placed on the frontlines. Tamburello said he would do it differently.

“I would just take my chances with the draft,” Tamburello said, “I wouldn’t join the Navy or Naval Reserve to escape service in the Army.”

According to 2003 statistics published on the Selective Service’s Web site, 95.4 percent or about 13.5 million eligible men are registered under current Selective Service guidelines.

Tamburello said that he has confidence in the current all-volunteer force, but if the draft were restored he believes the changes made in the Selective Service System will ensure a fair process and professional force.

“I think under the current system there is a better chance that I would be working in my career field rather than in the infantry, for example,” Tamburello said. “But if I wasn’t assigned within my career field, I would definitely be pro-active about getting a reassignment.”