Pentagon Says No Need for a U.S. Draft of Doctors

[Eye and Monkey]

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-arms-usa-draft.html?oref=login

By REUTERS
Published: October 20, 2004
Filed at 6:22 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Wednesday it does not need or want a draft of doctors and other medical workers even as another agency updates contingency plans for such a draft in the event of a national catastrophe.

Planning for a draft to mobilize medical workers after an emergency too severe for the military's medical system to handle ``serves no useful purpose,'' said William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

``The military health system today is working remarkably well,'' Winkenwerder told reporters. ``It would perform very effectively in the event of a national catastrophic event, even a large one.''
<snip>
Rumsfeld did not mention Kerry by name, but said, ``This is a mischievous political effort that's being made to frighten young men and women. The truth is we do not need a draft.''
<snip - more>

[Carolab]

1. because we just announced today we want looser borders

so we can bring in tons of illegal aliens who will take the bait of some kind of a "military job" and "benefits" including fast-track to citizenship! THERE'S your "all-volunteer army"!!!

Hey, RUMSFELD--there IS a Special Skills Draft planned and we ALL know about it, so shut the fuck up.

[jdj]

2. bald-faced lie # 3,456,876

``The military health system today is working remarkably well,'' Winkenwerder told reporters. ``It would perform very effectively in the event of a national catastrophic event, even a large one.''

So I guess all those reports about Ft. Stewart, GA are just fiction.

[dqueue]

3. <tinfoil hat>

"There's no need afterall, because we have just learned this year's flu strain is the super flu we've predicted. Initially, we thought everyone would just be terribly ill; thus, we planned to introduce a draft of doctors.

Rest assured, America. No draft of doctors.

P.S. The flu is fatal. There will be a draft of morticians, instead.
</tinfoil hat>

[Technowitch]

4. They left off one word: "Yet"

[VegasWolf]

5. Besides not that many troops will survive combat in Fallujah. Morticians

will definately be drafted.

New Information Shows Bush Indecisive, Paranoid, Delusional

[Dems Will Win]

6. BUSH "FORGET ALL THIS TALK ABOUT A DRAFT!" -- UH-OH!

In the second debate, President Bush asked us to “forget all this talk about a draft” and refused to answer the question of how he would prevent it—and then rudely cut off Charles Gibson’s next question as to why the overuse of Reservists on long deployments was not a back-door draft.

Yet the issue of the draft deserves a fair debate based on the facts before the election.

President Bush also said in the second debate that he “hears there’s rumors on the Internets” about the draft. What you are about to read is not a rumor and the Freedom of Information Act document now posted on the Web has been acknowledged as authentic to the Rocky Mountain News by Selective Service Spokesman Dan Amon. The timeline given at the end of this page shows that the agency is not telling the truth when they say this is only “food for thought”, that the SSS is in fact preparing for the real possibility of a Skills, Medical and Combat Draft for 2005. The Congress of course must still pass a 1-page trigger resolution reauthorizing current conscription law, but the Selective Service will by early 2005 have geared up the entire draft system and be prepared to register over 40 million Americans for a new Skills Draft and the Medical Draft with complex forms that will track a person’s skills—man or woman.

The most important thing to keep in mind about the draft before the election is that the Bush Administration could add several billion dollars to the Defense budget and add two active-duty divisions to the military to save the Volunteer Army. John Kerry is actually proposing just that in his $7 billion plan to add the 2 divisions, and save the Volunteer Army with increased benefits, a doubling of Special Ops and several other programs like his volunteer Civilian Stability Corps (kind of a Peace Corps on steroids).

Yet instead Bush is stretching the Army so thin, they are now calling up the retired Individual Ready Reserve—and they have even sent Company B of the Arlington Color Guard to the Mideast, giving them real bullets instead of the blanks they were firing at military funerals. If the Republicans want to preserve the Volunteer Army, as Bush said in the debates, and not have to reinstate the combat draft, why has the Bush Administration not added the several billion needed to avoid having to call a draft? Out of the $200 billion allocated for Iraq, not one penny was ever allocated to do this.

On October 4, Tom Delay attempted to defuse fears about a Bush Draft by calling for a vote on Democrat Charlie Rangel’s protest legislation to 1) expand the draft from men 18-25, to women and men 18-34 and 2) reinstate the draft immediately. Not only was the legislation defeated by a vote of 402-2, Rangel voted against his own bill—a House first. The Republicans are saying that since the Rangel legislation has been defeated, no one need worry about a re-instatement of the draft if President Bush is re-elected.

The truth is that any President can go to Congress under the Military Selective Service Act, the current registration law, and ask for re-authorization of the Combat Draft. All Congress need do is pass a 1-page “trigger resolution” and the Combat Draft for men 18-25 is back. At the same time, the Medical Draft is automatically activated for men and women, 18-44, with no deferments for health reasons.

The main worry for young people is that beyond Iraq, Bush and Cheney are following the neo-con plan that would involve the invasion of still more countries, such as Syria and Iran. In fact, Wes Clark charges in his book Winning Modern Wars, that a senior Pentagon official told him in 2001 that there was a 5-year plan to topple 7 countries: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Somalia. Assuming Libya is now off the list, that still leaves five countries.

Very worrisome to those in the anti-draft movement was the Family Circle July 13 “Could Your Child Be Drafted?”, in which Rick Jahnkow, program coordinator of the nonprofit Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities, had found out that ‘Karl Rove polled Republican members of Congress on how they felt about the draft. They said they'd support the President.’” Despite Family Circle’s circulation of 23 million, this charge was never refuted by the White House, no doubt because the moderate Republican Congressmen who told Jahnkow would then come forward.

But there are also concerns about actions the Bush Administration and the Selective Service are quietly taking behind the scenes, to not only make the Combat and Medical Drafts ready but also to gear up a new kind of draft: the Skills Draft.

Here are the facts on the Skills Draft. This account is confirmed by 1) the internal Agenda document recovered through the Freedom of Information Act, now posted on the Web and acknowledged as real by the SSS and 2) the statements of the Pentagon, Selective Service Congressional liason Richard Flavahan and Acting Director Lewis Brodsky. Links are provided below in the timeline.

We now know that there was that on February 11, 2003, Charles Abell, the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, and William Carr, Deputy Undersecretary for Military Personnel Policy, met with Lewis Brodsky, the Acting Director of the Selective Service, Flavahan and some other officials. This is the highest-level meeting you could have about the draft, outside of Rumsfeld and his inner circle. The proposed changes discussed in this meeting include:

- Allowing a non-combat draft for shortages in critical skills, without calling a combat draft. This non-combat skills draft would induct men and women ages 18 to 34.

- Fill labor shortages of all kinds throughout not only DoD but the Dept. of Homeland Security and other agencies as well, especially high-paying professionals like computer networking specialist or linguist. However, truck drivers, cooks and several hundred other skills are also considered “critical”.

- Create a single-point, all-inclusive database, in which every young person would be forced to send in a “self-declaration”—like an IRS form—of all of their critical skills, chosen from a long list o f several hundred occupations like the Armed Forces Specialty Code with Skills Identifier. The usual penalties of imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine would apply to all non-registrants.

- Upgrade the Medical Draft so that it collected data on skill sets and other information in the same way the Skills Draft would.

- Reduce induction time from being able to deliver all inductees in 193 days down to just 90 days for skills and medical inductees.

The Agenda document begins by declaring:

With known shortages of military personnel with certain critical skills, and with the need for the nation to be capable of responding to domestic emergencies as part of Homeland Security planning, changes should be made in the Selective Service System’s registration program and primary mission.

And goes on:

Defense manpower officials concede there are critical shortages of military personnel with certain special skills, such as medical personnel, linguists, computer network engineers, etc. The costs of attracting and retaining such personnel for military-service could be prohibitive, leading some officials to conclude that while a conventional draft may never be needed, a draft of men and women possessing these critical skills may be warranted in a future crisis, if too few volunteer.

So the Agenda document proposes:

In line with today’s needs, the SSS structure, programs and activities should be re-engineered towards maintaining a national inventory of American men and (for the first time) women, ages 18 through 34, with an added focus on identifying individuals with critical skills.

The head of the Selective Service then explained to the Deputy Undersecretaries how the Skills Draft would work:

… In addition to the basic identifying information collected in the current program, the expanded and revised program would require all registrants to indicate whether they have been trained in, possess, and professionally practice, one or more skills critical to national security or community health and safety. This could take the form of an initial “self-declaration” as a part of the registration process.

Men and women would enter on the SSS registration form a multi-digit number representing their specific critical skill (e.g., similar to military occupational specialty or Armed Forces Specialty Code with Skill Identifier), taken from a lengthy list of skills to be compiled and published by the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security. Individuals proficient in more than one critical skill would list the practiced skill in which they have the greatest degree of experience and competency. They would also be required to update reported information as necessary until they reach the age 35. This unique data base would provide the military (and national, state, and municipal government agencies) with immediately available links to vital human resources…in effect, a single, most accurate and complete, national inventory of young Americans with special skills.

In short, if a Skills Draft and Medical Draft are authorized by Bush and the Republican Congress in 2005, nearly 40 million young people and a somewhat overlapping 13.5 million doctors, nurses and specialists ages 20-44 will have to go to their local Post Office and register with the IRS. The form will have on it a list of several hundred skills for the skills draft, and at least 61 medical specialties for the Medical Draft form, probably along with a host of other medical occupations, from dental lab technician to health forms processor. Under penalty of a $250,000 fine, these tens of millions of Americans will “self-declare” their name address and all of their skills—and they could be drafted for any one of them—by writing down the coded number for that occupation. Recently, the DoD asked the IRS to help them track down the whereabouts of 50,000 Ready Reserve soldiers they had lost track of, so not registering could be very problematic in 2005.

But this new FOI-recovered document and the actions that the SSS admits they are taking in 2004 proves that at the very least, a Skills Draft and Medical Draft are being quietly readied for 2005—“just in case”.

From the FOI document, we now know at the end of the Feb. 11 Agenda document the Head of the Selective Service presented the Pentagon with three 3 Options. Option 1 was to maintain the status quo of male-only registration and the not-quite ready Medical Draft. Option 2 was to put the whole Selective Service into “Deep Standby” with reduced funding. From all indications, and from the statements of the SSS itself (see timeline above), the Pentagon has obviously decided to go ahead with Option 3a and Option 3b, which read:

“Next Step A. #3. Restructure the SSS and shift its peacetime focus to accommodate DoD’s most likely requirements in a crisis. Plan for conducting a more likely draft of individual with special and critical skills.

a. Minimum requirement: SSS mission guidance and time lines must be redefined promptly by DoD to allow more relevant pre-mobilization planning and funding for the possibility of a critical skills draft at M+90 or sooner (M+ is the number of days from authorization of a draft to delivery of the manpower to the DoD –ed.). Peacetime registration of men 18 through 25 would continue, but consideration would also be given to identifying men with certain critical skills among these year-of-birth groupings. A post-mobilization plan would also be devised and computer programming accomplished for a full-blown critical skills draft. The HCPDS program is completed, brought to the forefront of SSS readiness planning, and tested through exercises…

b. Expanded pre-mobilization requirement. SSS peacetime registration expanded to include women and men, 18 through 34 years old, and collects information on critical skills within these year-of-birth groupings...”


Note that the Skills Draft Agenda memo is recommending that a minimum requirement for going forward would be a “post-mobilization plan would also be devised and computer programming accomplished for a full-blown critical skills draft. The HCPDS program is completed, brought to the forefront of SSS readiness planning, and tested through exercises”

From all signs, the Selective Service was quietly asked by the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security, to undertake Option 3a and 3b of the Agenda memo over a year ago. The possibility of a Skills Draft or Combat Draft, and the apparent attempt of Donald Rumsfeld, Selective Service spokesman Amon and Acting Director Brodsky to mislead reporters and the public on this issue deserve full debate before the election.
Instead of after it.

Timeline of activity on Skills and Medical Drafts

Feb. 11 2003—Top-level meeting between the head of the SSS and Deputy Undersecretary Abell in charge of Personnel and Readiness of the DoD on a new type of draft, the Skills Draft. This is the meeting recorded in the unpublicized Agenda Document, revealed by a Freedom of Information Act request in May 2004, which recommends a Skills Draft and an upgrading of the Medical Draft. The memo proposes the SSS be able to call up any number of several hundred skills the Pentagon and even the Dept. of Homeland Security might be short of. Option 3 of the agenda’s “Next Steps” outlined moving “promptly” to change the mission of the SSS, to actively plan and prepare for the massive datbase needed to track men and women, “virtually every young American” under 35 and their skills (more details below). The SSS goes back to the drawing board after this meeting, encouraged enough to do some more planning.

Summer 2003—A drive begins to start filling Draft Board vacancies by asking current board members to find new ones.

July 25, 2003 – World Net Daily article on plans for the medical draft (HCPDS). System could draft up to 80,000 doctors, nurses and specialists, men and women.
http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33754

Fall 2003 - In its July 13th , 2004 article, “Could Your Child Be Drafted?”, Family Circle reported that in the Fall of 2003, “Karl Rove polled Republican members of Congress on how they felt about the draft. They said they'd support the President.” Despite Family Circle’s circulation of 23 million, this charge was never refuted by the White House. http://www.oregonparentsunited.org/articles_could_your_child_be_drafted.htm

Fall 2003—DoD announces critical skills shortages in linguists, computer experts and engineers. SSS Director Brodsky orders the designing of the SKILLS DRAFT procedures, the registration card, and the massive database needed to track every young American under the age of 35 AND their skills (the first step in creating a database is to decide what data fields are needed). The two-year process to gear up SKILLS DRAFT starts a year ago, in Fall 2003, meaning a skills draft could be ready in late 2005 (a new law would have to be passed by the Congress and signed by the President along the lines suggested in “Next Steps” at the end of the Skills Draft Agenda document).

September, 2003 – Acting SSS Director Brodsky, misleads J. E. McNeil, the head of Center on Conscience & War, a Conscientious Objector support and information group, telling her that in February of 2003 the SSS had to “justify their existence” before a hostile committee and that the Skills Draft “planning” was just a way to keep the Selective Service funded for another year. In reality, the SSS and DoD were having the Skills Draft meeting in that same month of February and he himself had just started designing the new draft registration cards and procedures, making it his top priority when the Pentagon announced the critical skills shortages. http://www.nisbco.org/UAA/03152004.html

September 23, 2003 – Draft Board Recruitment ad appears on Defense.Link site. First public ad for Draft Boards in decades. Page scrubbed within a few days of being noticed by some media in early November. Spokesman says there is “no plan” to reinstate draft, that it must be authorized by Congress. Public concern over new draft begins. “If a military draft becomes necessary," the notice explained, "approximately 2,000 Local and Appeal Boards throughout America would decide which young men, who submit a claim, receive deferments, postponements or exemptions from military service, based on Federal guidelines."
http://www.thememoryhole.org/mil/draft-boards.htm

November 2003—Draft board ad scrubbed.


Nov. 12, 2003 – “If President Bush is re-elected, it is likely that he will reinstate the draft. The war on terrorism will not end in Iraq, but instead will proceed into countries like Syria and Iran," said Daniel Ellsberg, of Pentagon Papers fame.
Dec. 2003—Acting SSS Director Brodsky announces the Skills Draft to be the “top priority” of the SSS in the Winter 2003 newsletter The Register, talking of rapid progress to come on the Skills Draft. As with the health care draftees, no medical deferments are allowed in the Skills Draft except for total disability. Startling inside information is revealed: “SSS officials consulted with DoD planners to learn that medical personnel, computer specialists and linguists are difficult to recruit and hard to retain. There are also fears that lengthy and repetitive activations of Guard and Reserve members will boost Reserve Component attrition rates. So a principal objective of PIP-2003 is to shift the Agency’s focus away from maintaining a high state of readiness to execute a large draft of untrained manpower and toward preparing for a much smaller draft of trained personnel possessing critical skills needed for military service in a national crisis.” This is a direct statement the Selective Service is focused on “preparing” a Skills Draft, that it is not just a planning paper or “food for thought”. In addition, there is the internal Pentagon fear that the Guard and Reserves will not meet re-enlistment rates, despite public statements by DoD spokesmen and Rumsfeld himself that a draft is not needed.
http://www.sss.gov/PDFs/NovDec2003-Register.pdf (go to P. 6)

March 13, 2004—Word of Skills Draft leaks out in a SF Chronicle story—the SSS admits it but tells reporters it’s just a “planning contingency.” In a misleading statement to allay fears, the SSS also says it would take 2 years to gear up and work the kinks out of a Skills Draft and that there is no funding for it. In fact, the SSS admits 6 weeks later that it has been actively designing the procedures and the data fields to be used on the Skills and Medical Registration cards since Fall of 2003 when the Pentagon announced shortages in liguists, computer experts and engineers. And SSS Spokesman Richard Flavahan contradicts spokesman Amon saying: "We want to gear up and make sure we are capable of providing (those types of draftees) since that's the more likely need," Eric Rosenberg, the reporter on the story, finds out about the Feb. 11 meeting agenda document and files a Freedom of Information Act request to get a copy.


May 1, 2004—Eric Rosenberg’s writes an article on the Skills Draft Agenda memo with the memo in hand—but fails to mention several key points: skills conscription would be expanded to fill labor shortages throughout the Dept of Homeland Security, which is 1/3 of the whole government, the Skills Draft can be called without a combat draft, Skills induction will take a mere 90 days of reauthorization, the SSS wanted to “promptly” change the very MISSION of the SSS, and so on. The article does, however, reveal many major points of the sweeping plan.


May 2, 2004 – Second Rosenberg article with memo in hand. “"These ideas were only being floated for Department of Defense consideration," Amon said. He described the proposal as "food for thought" for contingency planning.” “Nonetheless, Flahavan said, “the agency has begun designing procedures to conduct a targeted registration and draft of people with computer and language skills, in case military officials and Congress authorize it.” In actuality, however, the SSS was right then designing the cards and data fields needed for the entire Skills Draft and upgrading the Medical Draft based on that design work, they were not just working on a draft for computer and language skills. http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/dailystar/20404.php

Summer, Fall, 2004—Mock Combat Draft Lottery held, and sample medical exam report orders issued to sample addresses with mailing list software. Alternative Service is geared up for first time in 31 years. Papers to place Conscientious Objectors with employers as Alternative Service Workers are actually drawn up. With the Alternative Service for the first time geared up in the culmination of a 5-year readiness plan, the SSS is brought up to 95% operational capability. Full Medical Draft capability is set for 2005, and all DRAFT BOARD vacancies are to be filled by Spring 2005, according to column by Ted Rall. The SSS must report to the Director on March 31, 2005, that the entire system could be operational within 75 days. This means that all 1,980 local draft board offices could be open by June 15, 2005 if Congress reinstates the men-only draft. Theoretically, the first draft lottery for Combat for 20 year-olds and older Skills and Medical registrants could then take place. httP://www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004

Sept 13, 2004—Agenda memo of key Feb 2003 meeting posted on the Web. The .PDF file reveals the full scope of the Feb.11 agenda and, in the context of the statements by Flavahan and Brodsky, makes clear the SSS was told by the Pentagon a year ago to go ahead with the Skills Draft. What Option 3a and 3b at the end of the memo indicates for the future of “virtually every young American” can now be read by everyone, so each person can decide for themselves what it may mean to them.

Sept 20, 2004 – Howard Dean reports in a column entitled: “Hidden Agenda: A National Draft in the Future?” that two draft board members told him that the Selective Service has informed boards that a draft is coming next year: “Selective Service boards have already been notified that 20-year-olds and medical personnel will be called up first.”
http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_13568.shtml

Sept 27, 2004 – When the Rocky Mtn News noted the Feb. 11 memo itself was circulating on the Internet, SSS Spokesman Dan Amon “said the memo was authentic, but he called it nothing more than a ‘food for thought kind of thing’ that was largely rejected inside the Pentagon.” These were the same exact words he used in early 2004, despite Flavahan’s “gear up” statement, and the revelation that the SSS had been “designing procedures” and data fields for the Skills Draft since Fall of 2003. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/election/article/0,1299,DRMN_36_3212279,00.html

October 7, 2004 – Rock The Vote posts Feb. 11 Agenda memo on their Blog.
http://blog.rockthevote.com

The memo in detail and the full memo in text:


Here is the full text of the Agenda memo in WORD:

NOTE: M+ then a number refers to Manpower Delivery in so many days after activation by Congress, SECDEF is Rumsfeld, MSSA is Military Selective Service Act, the current registration law.

FOI Agenda Memo starts
---------------------------------------------------------------------

0930 11 February 2003

TOPICAL AGENDA
The Department of Defense (Personnel & Readiness)
And the Selective Service System

DoD Participants:
Hon. Charles S. Abell, Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for
Personnel and Readiness
Mr. William Carr, Acting Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for
Military Personnel Policy
Colonel David Kopanski, Deputy Director, Accession Policy

SSS Participants:
Mr. Lewis C. Brodsky, Acting Director of Selective Service
Mr. Richard S. Flahavan, Director of Public & Congressional Affairs


I. Review 30-year time-line – SSS major policy issues


A. Draft ends in 1973. Agency placed in “Deep Standby” from 1976 to 1980. Ninety-eight “record keepers” remain in SSS, part-time Reserve Officers kept on board, but no registration, no Board Members.

B. 1980 – Cold War continues. President Carter decides to revitalize SSS after Soviets invade Afghanistan and MOBEXs indicate need. No draft, but resumes registration program for men. Wants to include women but Congress says no. 10,000 Board Members appointed and trained. DoD sets preparedness goal for SSS: “Be ready to provide first draftees to MEPS at M+13 and 100,000 by M+30”

C. 1988 – Congress reacts to military medical shortages (“war stoppers”). Language inserted in the Defense Authorization Act telling SSS to develop a “structure” which would allow the registration and induction of health care personnel in an emergency
DoD identifies more than 60 health carespecialtiess to include in the SSS Health Care Personnel Delivery System (HCPDS). Planning calls for first HCPDS draftees by M+42 HCPDS becomes a paper and computer exercise lasting many years.

D. 1989-1991 – End of Cold War, Desert Storm, no draft, and SSS remains in standby status with flat-lined annual budgets.

E. 1993 and 1994 – Detractors in the Congress challenge need for continuing to fund SSS and peacetime registration. Section 547(b), FY 1993 DoD Authorization Act requires SECDEF, in concert with SSS, to report on continuation of peacetime registration. This was accomplished, registration is retained, and an interagency task force review was formed, led by the NSC. Conclusion is announced by President Clinton: preserve SSS and peacetime registration in current standby status for three reasons:

1. A hedge against underestimating the number of soldiers needed to fight a future war.
2. A symbol of national resolve to potential adversaries, and,
3. A link between the all-volunteer Armed Forces and society-at-large. Clinton also instructs SSS to increase operational efficiency. Instructs DoD to update MOB Requirements for SSS, re-examine timelines, and review arguments for and against Continuing to exclude women from registration.


F. 1994 – Defense issues new “post-Cold War” guidance to SSS: “provides first untrained draftee to MEPS at M+193, first Health Care draftee at M+222.” DoD reaffirms that it is not necessary to register or draft women (for a conventional draft of untrained manpower) because they are prohibited by policy from serving in ground combat assignments. SSS recognizes women may have to be included in health care draft.

G. 1998 – DoD Health Affairs says health care personnel would be needed earlier than M+222 in a future conflict. Guidance changed to M+90. Today, HCPDS can be implemented, but ability to meet M+90 time frame is doubtful. Program not fully tested and compliance aspects still not complete.

H. 1995 through 2000 – Anti-SSS Members of Congress almost successful in eliminating SSS through the appropriations process. SSS undergoes structure and program reductions to make ends meet. Readiness suffers.

I. 2000 and 2001 – DoD and SSS plan and implement joint mailing project to increase peacetime relevancy of SSS and improve timeliness and address accuracy of DoD recruiting direct mail programs.

J. 2002 and 2003 – Administration says use of draft not an option for war on terrorism or potential war with Iraq. Rep. Rangel and Sen. Hollings introduce bills (H.R. 163 and S. 89) call for reinstituting a draft for military and national service. SECDEF adamant and vocal against using the draft for any immediate or likely contingency. Most recently, Reps. Paul, DeFazio and Frank introduce H.R. 487, calling for repeal of the Military Selective Service Act and an end to the SSS within six months of the bill becoming
law.


11 February 2003
ISSUE PAPER

Synopsis:

With known shortages of military personnel with certain critical skills, and with the need for the nation to be capable of responding to domestic emergencies as part of Homeland Security planning, changes should be made in the Selective Service System’s registration program and primary mission.

Situation:

Currently, and in accordance with the Military Selective Service Act (MSSA) <50 U.S.C., App. 451 et seq.>, the Selective Service System (SSS) collects and maintains Personal information from all U.S. male citizens and resident aliens. Under this process, Each man is required to “present himself for and submit to registration” upon reaching age 18.

The methods by which a man can register with Selective Service include the internet, mail-back postcard, checking a box on the other government forms, and through the driver’s license applications process in many states. The collected data is retained in an active computer file until the man reaches the age 26 and is no longer draft eligible. It consists of the man’s name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. Currently, 91 percent of all men, ages 18 through 25, are registered, enabling the SSS to conduct a timely, fair, and equitable draft in the event the Congress and the President decide to reinstate conscription during a crisis.

However, the Secretary of Defense and Department of Defense manpower officials have stated recently that a draft will not be necessary for any foreseeable crisis. They assume that sufficient fighting capability exists in today’s “all-volunteer” active and reserve Armed Forces for likely contingencies, making a conventional draft of untrained manpower somewhat obsolete. Yet, Defense manpower officials concede there are critical shortages of military personnel with certain special skills, such as medical personnel, linguists, computer network engineers, etc. The costs of attracting and retaining such personnel for military-service could be prohibitive, leading some officials to conclude that while a conventional draft may never be needed, a draft of men and women possessing these critical skills may be warranted in a future crisis, if too few volunteer.

Proposal:

In line with today’s needs, the SSS structure, programs and activities should be re-engineered towards maintaining a national inventory of American men and (for the first time) women, ages 18 through 34, with an added focus on identifying individuals with critical skills.

An interagency task force should examine the feasibility of this proposal which would require amendments to the MSSA, expansion of the current registration program, and inclusion of women. In addition to the basic identifying information collected in the current program, the expanded and revised program would require all registrants to indicate whether they have been trained in, possess, and professionally practice, one or more skills critical to national security or community health and safety. This could take the form of an initial “self-declaration” as a part of the registration process. Men and women would enter on the SSS registration form a multi-digit number representing their specific critical skill (e.g., similar to military occupational specialty or Armed Forces Specialty Code with Skill Identifier), taken from a lengthy list of skills to be compiled and published by the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security. Individuals proficient in more than one critical skill would list the practiced skill in which they have the greatest degree of experience and competency. They would also be required to update reported information as necessary until they reach the age 35. This unique data base would provide the military (and national, state, and municipal government agencies) with immediately available links to vital human resources…in effect, a single, most accurate and complete, national inventory of young Americans with special skills.

While the data base’s “worst-case” use might be to draft such personnel into military or homeland security assignments during a national mobilization, its very practical peacetime use could be to support recruiting and direct marketing campaigns aimed at encouraging skilled personnel to volunteer for community or military service opportunities, and to consider applying for hard-to-fill public sector jobs. Local government agencies could also tap this data base to locate nearby specialists for help with domestic crises and emergency situations.

With the changes described above, SSS programs would be modified to serve the contemporary needs of several customers: Department of Defense Department of Homeland Security (FEMA, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs, INS), Corporation for National Service, Public Health Service, and other federal and state agencies seeking personnel with critical skills for national security or community service assignments. The SSS would thus play a more vital, relevant, and immediate role in shoring up America’s strength and readiness in peace and war.

# # #

II. Are today’s SSS capabilities in sync with DoD needs?


A. Is there a need to preserve the capability of conducting a draft of untrained Manpower? If so, is the time frame still M+193?

B. How likely is it that DoD will need SSS to conduct a Health Care draft?

C. How severe are any other critical skills shortages in the military?

D. Are the Clinton-era’s abstract reasons for preserving the SSS and peacetime registration still valid?

E. Would DoD still fight nay and all Congressional initiatives to cut or eliminate the SSS?


III. Consider restructuring the SSS to address contemporary national security needs

A. Focus might be on relieving critical skills shortages

B. Include potential service to DHS and other government agencies that must attract/recruit skilled personnel

C. Explore the feasibility of developing a single-point data base of virtually all young Americans, 18 through 34 years old, immediately identifiable by critical skills possessed and practiced. Data base could be used for a draft in war and for recruiting in peacetime.


1. Would require modification of SSS mission and changes to authorizing law.

2. Cost considerations

IV. Next steps – Statement of Administration Policy needed


A. DoD decides what services it needs and wants from SSS: Three options for consideration:

1. SSS status quo; however, redefine the DoD mission guidance and time lines to make the SSS more relevant to DoD’s needs and the SECDEF’s policy. The current guidance of providing untrained inductees at M+193 runs counter to the SECDEF’s views and is out-of-sync with possible wartime scenarios.
2. Return the SSS to “Deep Standby” status. If a draft of any kind is highly unlikely and undesirable, eliminate peacetime registration and dismiss the 10,000 trained volunteer Board Members. However, should a draft be needed, it would take more than a year to get the system capable of conducting a fair and equitable draft from Deep Standby status.
3. Restructure the SSS and shift its peacetime focus to accommodate DoD’s most likely requirements in a crisis. Plan for conducting a more likely draft of individual with special and critical skills.


a. Minimum requirement: SSS mission guidance and time lines must be redefined promptly by DoD to allow more relevant pre-mobilization planning and funding for the possibility of a critical skills draft at M+90 or sooner. Peacetime registration of men 18 through 25 would continue, but consideration would also be given to identifying men with certain critical skills among these year-of-birth groupings. A post-mobilization plan would also be devised and computer programming accomplished for a full-blown critical skills draft. The HCPDS program is completed, brought to the forefront of SSS readiness planning, and tested through exercises. Without a reaffirmation of relevance and adjustment of mission, the SSS will be an easy target for reduction or elimination by detractors in the Congress and the Administration.

b. Expanded pre-mobilization requirement. SSS peacetime registration expanded to include women and men, 18 through 34 years old, and collects information on critical skills within these year-of-birth groupings. Requires change of law and additional funding (see Issue Paper dated 11 Feb 2003).


B. If more examination of the issues and options is needed, consider forming an interagency task force to provide the Administration with a policy recommendation. Possible players: DoD, SSS, DHS, NSC, OMB, Corporation for National Service, PHS, others.

C. After suitable analysis, obtain a White House Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) announcing plans for the future of the SSS (course of action 1,2, or 3, above).

D. If the SSS is to expand its pre-mobilization activities to include registration of women and collection of critical skills identifiers, it will be be necessary to market the concept for approval by the Armed Services Committees and Appropriations Committees and draft implementing legislation for congressional consideration. The changes will be implemented after the amended law is signed and funding is identified.


Sample Military Occupational Specialty List

This MOS list ranges from “Basic Hygiene Equipment Operator” and Warehouse Clerk to Musician, Graphic Artist, Engineer and Computer Experts. It is given as a sample of the broad nature of a Military Occupational Specialty Code and would not be the final non-combat Skills Code that would be on a Skills Draft Registration card.

That will be longer, as it will be drafting for the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon.

Taken from: http://www.marinemoms.us/USMC/usmc-mos.asp

U.S. Marine Corps MOS Listing
Personnel & Administration: Occupational Field 01
Specialty School Location
Administrative Clerk Camp Lejeune, NC
Unit Diary Clerk Camp Lejeune, NC
Personnel Clerk Camp Lejeune, NC
Postal Clerk Camp Lejeune, NC


Intelligence: Occupational Field 02
Specialty School Location
Intelligence Specialist Dam Neck, VA


Infantry: Occupational Field 03 (This occupation is for males only)
Specialty School Location
Rifleman Camp Pendleton, CA & Camp Lejeune, NC
Machine Gunner Camp Pendleton, CA & Camp Lejeune, NC
Mortar Man Camp Pendleton, CA & Camp Lejeune, NC
Assaultman Camp Pendleton, CA & Camp Lejeune, NC
Light Armored Vehicle Crewman Camp Pendleton, CA
Antitank Assault Mis Camp Pendleton, CA & Camp Lejeune, NC


Logistics: Occupational Field 04
Specialty School Location
Logistics/Embarkation Specialist Coronado, CA & Little Creek, VA
Maintenance Management Specialist Little Creek, VA
Air Delivery Specialist Ft. Benning, GA
Landing Support Specialist Camp Lejeune, NC


Field Artillery: Occupational Field 08 (This occupation is for males only)
Specialty School Location
Field Artillery Fire Controlman Ft. Sill, OK
Field Artillery Meteorological Crewman Ft. Sill, OK
Field Artillery Cannoneer Ft. Sill, OK
Fire Support Man Ft. Sill, OK
Field Artillery, Radar Operator Ft. Sill, OK


Utilities: Occupational Field 11
Specialty School Location
Refrigeration Mechanic Aberdeen, MD
Basic Hygiene Equipment Operator Camp Lejeune, NC
Basic Electrician Camp Lejeune, NC
Electrical Equipment Repair Specialist Camp Lejeune, NC
Fabric Repair Specialist Ft. Lee, VA


Engineer, Construction, Equipment & Shore Party: Occupational Field 13
Specialty School Location
Basic Combat Engineer Camp Lejeune, NC
Engineer Equipment Mechanic Ft. Leonard Wood, MO
Basic Metal Worker Aberdeen, MD
Engineer Equipment Operator Ft. Leonard Wood, MO
Engineer Assistant Ft. Leonard Wood, MO
Bulk Field Specialist Ft. Lee, VA


Printing & Reproduction: Occupational Field 15
Specialty School Location
Lithographer Ft. Belvoir, VA


Tank & Emphibian tractor: Occupational Field 18 (This occupation is for males only)
Specialty School Location
Tank Crewman Ft. Knox, KY
Assault Amphibian Crewman Camp Pendleton, CA


Ordnance: Occupational Field 21
Specialty School Location
Machinist Aberdeen, MD
Assault Amphibian Repairman Camp Pendleton, CA
Main Battle Tank Repairman Ft. Knox, KY
Small Arms Repair Aberdeen, MD
Electro-Optical Instrument Repair Aberdeen, MD
Light Armored Vehicle Repair Aberdeen, MD
Towed Artillery System Aberdeen, MD


Ammunition & Explosives Ordnance Disposal: Occupational Field 23
Specialty School Location
Ammunition Technician Redstone Arsenal, AL


Operational Communications: Occupational Field 23
Specialty School Location
ULCS Operational Maintainer 29 Palms, CA
Field Radio Operator 29 Palms, CA
Communications Center Operator 29 Palms, CA
Construction Wireman 29 Palms, CA
Ground MOB For SATCOM Terminal Operator 29 Palms, CA
High Frequency Communications central Operator 29 Palms, CA
Multi-Channel Equipment Operator 29 Palms, CA
Field Wireman 29 Palms, CA
Fleet SATCOM Terminal Operator 29 Palms, CA


Signal Intelligence/Ground Electronic Warefare: Occupational Field 26
Specialty School Location
Basic Electronic Intelligence Operational Analysis Pensacola, FL


Data/Communications Maintenance: Occupational Field 28
Specialty School Location
Ground Radar Repair 29 Palms, CA
Radio Technician 29 Palms, CA
Telephone Technician 29 Palms, CA
Cable Systems Technician 29 Palms, CA
PC Tact Office Machine Technician 29 Palms, CA
Electronic Switching Equipment Technician 29 Palms, CA
Multi Channel Equipment repair 29 Palms, CA
Test Measures/Diagnostic Equipment Repair Albany, GA
Communications Security Equipment Repair 29 Palms, CA
Artillery Electronic Systems Repair 29 Palms, CA
Counter Mortar Radar Repair 29 Palms, CA


Supply Administrations & Operations: Occupational Field 30
Specialty School Location
Supply Administrations & Operations Clerk Camp Lejeune, NC
Basic Packing Specialist Albany, NY
Warehouse Clerk Barstow, CA & Albany, GA


Transportation: Occupational Field 31
Specialty School Location
Traffic Management Specialist Ft. Eustis, VA


Food Service: Occupational Field 33
Specialty School Location
Basic Food Service Specialist Ft. Lee, VA
Subsistence Supply Clerk Ft. Lee, VA


Auditing, Finance & Accounting: Occupational Field 34
Specialty School Location
Disbursing Technician Camp Lejeune, NC
Fiscal Budget Technician Camp Lejeune, NC


Motor Transport: Occupational Field 35
Specialty School Location
Automotive Organizational Maintenance Camp Lejeune, NC
Logistics Vehicle Operator Ft. Leonard Wood, MO
Body Repair Mechanic Aberdeen, MD
Motor Vehicle Operator Ft. Leonard Wood, MO
Vehicle Recovery Operator Ft. Leonard Wood, MO


Data Systems: Occupational Field 40
Specialty School Location
ADA Programing Quantico, VA
Small Computer Systems Specialist Quantico, VA


Public Affairs: Occupational Field 43
Specialty School Location
Combat Correspondent Ft. Meade, MD


Legal Services: Occupational Field 44
Specialty School Location
Legal Services Specialist Camp Lejeune, NC


Training & Audio-Visual Support: Occupational Field 46
Specialty School Location
Combat Visual Information Equipment Specialist Pensacola, FL
Graphics Specialist Ft. Meade, MD
Combat Photographic Specialist Pensacola, FL
Combat/Motion Media Specialist Pensacola, FL


Band: Occupational Field 55
Specialty School Location
Drum & Bugle Corps Washington, DC
Music, Basic Little Creek, VA
Music, Intermediate Little Creek, VA
Music, Assistant Bandleader Little Creek, VA


Nuclear, Biological & chemical (NBC): Occupational Field 57
Specialty School Location
NBC Defense Specialist Ft. Leonard Wood, MO


Military Police & Corrections: Occupational Field 58
Specialty School Location
Law Enforcement (Military Police) Ft. Leonard Wood, MO


Electronics Maintenance: Occupational Field 59
Specialty School Location
Aviation Radio Repairer 29 Palms, CA
Tactical Air Operations Central Technician 29 Palms, CA
Tactical Data Communications Central Technician 29 Palms, CA
Tactical Air Command Central Repairer 29 Palms, CA
Tactical Data Communications Central Repairer 29 Palms, CA
Aviation Radar Repairer 29 Palms, CA
Marine Air Traffic Control Unit Navigational Aids Technician Pensacola, FL
Marine Air Traffic Control Unit Communications Technician Pensacola, FL
Marine Air Traffic Control Unit Radar Technician Millington, TN
Marine Air Traffic Control Unit Navigational Aids Repair Millington, TN
Marine Air Traffic Control Unit Radar Repairer Millington, TN
Marine Air Traffic Control Unit Communications Repairer Millington, TN
Data Systems Technician Mare Island, CA
Tactical General Purpose Computer 29 Palms, CA
SUR AIR Defense Systems Acquisition Technician Redstone Arsenal, AL
SUR AIR Defense Systems Fire Control Technician Redstone Arsenal, AL


Aircraft Maintenance: Occupational Field 60/61
Specialty School Location
Aviation Maintenance Administration Meridian, MS
Aviation Safety Equipment Mechanic Pensacola, FL
Marine Cryogenics Equipment Operators Cherry Point, NC
Aircraft Mechanic KC-130 Pensacola, FL
Aircraft Mechanic F/A-18 Pensacola, FL
Aircraft Power Plants Mechanic Pensacola, FL
KC-130 Aircraft Flight Mechanic Pensacola, FL
Aircraft Hydraulic Airframe Mechanic Pensacola, FL
Aircraft Structure Airframe Mechanic Pensacola, FL
Flight Equipment Pensacola, FL
Aircraft Maintenance GSE M/R Pensacola, FL
Aircraft Intermediate Level Structure Mechanic Pensacola, FL
Aircraft Intermediate Level hydraulic/Pneumatic Mechanic Pensacola, FL
Helicopter Mechanic New River, NC & Camp Pendleton, CA
Helicopter Power Plant Mechanical Technician Pensacola, FL
Helicopter Power Plant Mechanic Pensacola, FL
Helicopter Dynamic Comp Mechanic New River, NC
Helicopter Hydraulic/Pneumatic Mechanic Pensacola, FL
Helicopter Structure Mechanic Pensacola, FL
Helicopter Structure Mechanic U/AH Pensacola, FL
CH-46 Crew Chief Pensacola, FL
CH-53 Crew Chief Pensacola, FL
UH-1N Crew Chief Pensacola, FL


Avionics: Occupational Field 63/64
Specialty School Location
A/C Comm/Nav Radar Systems Pensacola, FL
A/C Comm/Nav/Wpns Systems Pensacola, FL
A/C Comm/Nav/Wpns Pensacola, FL
A/C Comm/Nav Electronics Pensacola, FL
A/C Elec Sys Tech KC Pensacola, FL
A/C Elec/Sys Tech F Pensacola, FL
A/C EleCntrmrs Systems Pensacola, FL
A/C Comm/Nav Sys Technician Pensacola, FL
A/C Nav Sys Tech IFF Pensacola, FL
Aviation Elec Micro-Miniature Pensacola, FL
A/C Elec/Inst Flight Counter Pensacola, FL
A/CFlt Tech Helo/OV Pensacola, FL
Aviation Test Set Tech IMA Pensacola, FL
Radar Test Stat/Rad Pensacola, FL
A/C Internal Nav Systems Pensacola, FL
Hybrid Test Set Technician Pensacola, FL
A/C Fwd Looking Rad Pensacola, FL
Consol Auto Sup Systems Pensacola, FL
A/C Elec Equipment Tester Pensacola, FL
A/C Elec Counter Systems Pensacola, FL
Aviation Precision Measurement Albany, GA
Aviation Meteorological Electronics Pensacola, FL
Computer Sys Tech DP Great Lakes, GA


Aviation Ordnance: Occupational Field 65
Specialty School Location
Aviation Ordnance Ammo Technician Pensacola, FL
Aviation Ordnance Equipment Repairman Pensacola, FL
Aircraft Ordnance Technician Pensacola, FL


Aviation Supply: Occupational Field 66
Specialty School Location
Aviation Supply Clerk Meridian, MS
Auto Information Systems Computer Operator Meridian, MS


Weather Service: Occupational Field 68
Specialty School Location
Weather Observer Kessler AFB, MD


Airfield Services: Occupational Field 70
Specialty School Location
Aviation Operations Specialist Meridian, MS
Aircraft Recovery Specialist Pensacola, FL
Aircraft Firefighting/Rescue Goodfellow AFB, TX


Air Traffic Control/Air Control/Air Support/Anti-Air Warfare: Occupational Field 72
Specialty School Location
Air Control Electronics 29 Palms, CA
*Air Support Operations Operator 29 Palms, CA
Air Traffic Controller Pensacola, FL
HAWK Missile Systems Operator Ft. Bliss, TX
LAAD Gunner Ft. Bliss, TX


Enlisted Flight Crews: Occupational Field 73
Specialty School Location
First Navigator Pensacola, FL
Airborne Radio Operator Pensacola, FL

[VegasWolf]

7. Great post! On the less serious side, doesn't DeLay know what AK-47s do

to fingernails? I can see a new line of Martha Stewart
home foxhole improvement tips; how to keep that chick look
in the foxhole, 1000 crafts to make out of depleted uranium
shells, lipstick colors that go with napalm, etc. Sorry
ladies, just kidding! The whole situation is absurd beyond
human comprehension.

New Information Shows Bush Indecisive, Paranoid, Delusional

[2Design]

8. they already called up a ready reservist who was 63 ro 68

it was in the news and posted to this board in the last month