Do I Have To Register For Selective Service If I Am A Veteran

What is the Selective Service System (SSS)? This bureau is responsible for collecting the personal data of all men in the United States between the ages of xviii and 25 (born after 1960) for apply in the event of a national emergency requiring the use of a military draft.

The personal data collected includes current addresses, full names, citizenship status, and other information.

Who Is Required To Register For Selective Service

This is required of all males in the The states regardless of citizenship. The official website of the United States Selective Service says "very few" exceptions for this registration are possible. Who is required to register?

All males between ages 18 and 25 within 30 days of arriving in the U.s.a.
U.S. born citizens
Naturalized citizens
Parolees
Undocumented immigrants
Legal permanent residents
Asylum seekers
Refugees
"All males with visas of any kind" which expired more xxx days ago

A small-scale number of people exempt from the SSS requirement "are those on current non-immigrant visas" according to the Selective Service.

Which Males Are Exempt From Registering?

Non-U.S. male who arrived in the U.Southward. for the first time after his 26th birthday: Documentation for this requires a valid engagement of entry stamp in a passport, or an I-94 with date of entry stamp on it, or a letter from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) indicating the date the man entered the Us. In cases where a male enters the U.Southward. illegally, "he must provide proof that he was not living in the U.Due south. from historic period xviii through 25." Greenish cards do non count as documentation for these purposes.
Non-U.South. male on a valid non-immigrant visa: If a male enters the U.S. on an F-one educatee visa and stayed past his 26th birthday, documentation would be required showing "that he was admitted on an F-i visa and attended schoolhouse full-time as required."
Males born before 1960: Typical documentation requirements apply including providing a state-issued ID bill of fare, passport, birth certificate, etc.
Veterans: DD-214 or current full-fourth dimension active duty orders, military ID cards or other paperwork may be required as proof.

Why Are Women Exempt From Registering With The Selective Service?

According to the SSS, current federal constabulary does non make a provision for women to be added to the Selective Service Arrangement. In that location is a single, i-judgement blurb on the official site stating such with no further elaboration.

A Brief History Of SSS

Military machine drafts are nothing new. Forced conscription and state-required service have been around as long as there have been militaries to initiate them. According to some sources the modern version began in the French Revolution.

At that time in the late 1700s, in that location was "near-universal" conscription in France. Many European nations took annotation, requiring their citizens to serve anywhere from one to viii years depending on the armed forces, whether it was a time of war, etc.

There was definitely conscription happening in America at the fourth dimension of the Ceremonious War, and the exercise was used again in World War I. The difference existence that in both cases the military draft ended as soon as the wars themselves did.

Not so with modern American draft policy, though it was halted briefly in the 1970s to adjust an overhaul of the registration organization. Co-ordinate to SSS itself, the first "peacetime draft" occurred in 1940, earlier the U.s.a. entered World State of war Two.

In the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese Imperial forces, recovery efforts were enhanced past the added manpower.

The draft at this time expired briefly at state of war's finish, just to be reinstated ii years after. From 1948 to 1973, the draft was used to maintain troop strength regardless of peacetime or state of war. Korea, Vietnam, and other operations benefited from the draft just its days of existence a tool used by the government to maintain troop numbers were coming to an end.

"Consecration authority expired in 1973" the SSS official site says, simply the Selective Service Arrangement remained as standby functioning in case of a national emergency.

In 1979, the system was renovated and registration was again mandatory come 1980, when U.Due south. males were required to sign up within 30 days of their 18th birthday.

What Registering With The Selective Service Means

Registration with SSS means you have identified yourself to the Federal government every bit a male citizen who has signed upwardly for the draft. There has not been an agile draft since 1973 and a draft cannot be reinstated without the blessing of Congress and the President. The registration is basically a database kept should it be needed in times of a national emergency.

What Registering Does NOT Mean

Registration with the Selective Service does not mean you accept enlisted in the military. It does not place a military service commitment on y'all, and registration does non make you function of the all-volunteer United States military.

Furthermore, the Selective Service official site reminds citizens "The fact that a human being is required to register does non mean that he will exist drafted… a typhoon would most likely occur only in the event of war or national emergency."

Failure To Register Is A Crime

The Selective Service official site says those bedevilled of failure to register with SSS can result in five yr imprisonment, a fine up to $250,000, or both. SSS besides advises that failure to register makes you ineligible for "certain benefits."

What To Exercise If You Did Non Register Before Age 26

If you are at or over 26 years of age and have not registered with the selective service, you may be declared ineligible for federal and state programs.

This includes citizenship programs. You will demand to contact the Selective Service to request a status information letter of the alphabet. According to the SSS, this is part of the process that can help you lot determine what your status with SSS is.

In essence, the Selective Service is looking for any indication that your failure to register was NOT a knowing and willful failure or refusal to do and then. Call Selective Service to get more than information on this process or to larn how to start it. Call them at 1-847-688-6888. Your call volition exist answered by an automated voice processing organisation.

Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Strength and a onetime reporter for Air Force Television News