To those who have been there- What to expect if and when I register my son

[Sonicmedusa]

with Selective Service?

Will there be a relentless barrage from recruiters?

[glowing]

1. Where do you live? In my state, getting your driver's license

automatically registers you with selective service, men and women.

[MNDemNY]

2. Whether he's registered or not,

the recruiters will be on him as the schools MUST provide the military with contact info.And access at the school! Aint America great?

[PA Democrat]

9. You can opt out to prevent the school from releasing your child's info.

You can get a form at this link:

http://www.rcnv.org/counterrecruit/optout/

[rug]

10. You can opt out.

http://www.rcnv.org/counterrecruit/optout/

[MNDemNY]

11. Can't "opt out " of the recruiters hanging in the lunchroom and study halls.

[PA Democrat]

14. Yeah, I've seen them numerous times in my son's high school.

Last year they sent a couple of very attractive female recruiters on numerous occasions. But at least by opting out they can't call your kid at home or show up at your door. I've also instructed my kids to never, never give out their address or phone number to recruiters who show up at their school.

[rug]

16. My daughter's entering 11th grade this year.

Time to download the form.

[PA Democrat]

17. They already got one of my son's best friends.

I feel sick about it. I guess that they can get a 17 year old to enlist provided that the parents sign. He will only be a senior in high school this fall, so I am praying that we can force a change in Bush's Iraq policy before he graduates.

BTW, check with your school district. Mine requires a new form to opt out for every school year.

[rug]

18. Will do.

[MNDemNY]

19. Too late, they get the info

as early as 9nth grade.

[rug]

22. Hmmm, I think I'll pay a visit to the district Monday.

[ikojo]

3. The recruiters generally begin the attack when your

kid is in the tenth grade. My nephew has been getting mail from the military since he was a sophomore. My sister, a Bush supporter, said the military will not be getting her son. Of course she does not see the hypocrisy in that statement. Ok for other people's kids to be over there but not her child. Well, I don't want him going either.

My nephew is the type that recruiters prey upon..he's from a poor family and wants to go to college but there is NO money to help send him. If he is able to go it will be via scholarships. I urge him to do his best and take the most challenging courses.

Why does my sister support a party that does not support her class....one word.....FETUS.

[DesertRat]

4. You don't register your son. He registers himself

The barrage from recruiters began well before my sons turned 18.

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. I believe that SS registration is mandatory upon turning 18. If it weren't I certainly wouldn't

voluntarily register my son.

[Kali]

7. If I recall you actually have until 24 to stay out of violation of the law.

I have one that is pushing it - he is 21 and not registered (yet) but he also hasn't applied for govt loans or anything so we are kind of in limbo on how to handle it.

[Wiley50]

20. I Don't Think So (or How I missed the tail end of Vietnam)

I was born in 1955, so I turned 18 in 1973.

I early 1974 I was in Jr College
but I wasn't applying myself very well.
I was hanging out with a group of other guys from school
at a trailer a couple of them were renting
staying up all night playing cards, smoking pot and drinking
and skipping a bunch of classes and generally flunking out.

So, one of these guys was fresh out of the army
and he wasn't enjoying school too much
and decided he was gonna go re-join the military
and he managed to convince me to join up with him
I was sick of the small town I lived in
and wanted to go see the world
So we we're gonna join up on the buddy plan

So off we go the Nashville to get the physical
and it was prodding and poking
and just like in Alice's Restaurant

So I get spit out in front of this table
with a mean ass female army type
and she asks me for my draft card

So, I, truthfully, say I haven't registered yet.

So she goes friggin ballistic saying stuff like,
"$15000 fine and 15 years in jail"
and generally giving me a really rough time about it

And I had an epiphany:
" We're in the middle of a fucked up godforsaken war
and you guys are hard up for all of the cannon fodder that you can draft
and I come in here to, willingly, GIVE MYSELF TO YOU
and you won't take me because I haven't gotten the card
that says you can take me even if I don't wanna go?"

"I don't wanna work for a goddamn fucked up outfit like you after all!"

And I turned around and walked out.

And I never ever registered
and nothing ever became of it either.

[Jed Dilligan]

24. Great story

It says volumes about all American bureaucratic institutions, not just the mil.

[DemBones DemBones]

25. I think you were very lucky. Schools were required to send the names

of any male students over 18 who left school to the draft board so your name should have been in someone's records. Maybe they never hassled you because your birthdate was a low number in the lottery.

:shrug:

[Wiley50]

26. I left school when I was 15 after my sophmore year

and took the GED a year or so after that
and started into junior college
at the same time my high school class
was starting their senior year

So maybe that's why I slipped through the cracks

[Kali]

28. it is 26

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

Registration is the law. A man who fails to register may, if prosecuted and convicted, face a fine of up to $250,000 and/or a prison term of up to five years.

Even if not tried, a man who fails to register with Selective Service before turning age 26 may find that some doors are permanently closed.

[Kali]

6. separate issues

the recruiters will be all over him no matter what. If he walks and breathes he is a target (in more ways than one, unfortunately) when they call tell them to take him off their goddamned lists.

My son gets calls from what sound like typical teenage girls - they are recruiters (I ALWAYS ask "who is calling please?")- make sure contact info was YOUR number if the kid has his own phone so you can screen those calls. Or make sure he does the "take me of your list/I'm not interested" thing and immediately hangs up on them.

Registering is a whole 'nother issue, google it and also "conscientious objector" My oldest slipped through before mandatory reg at drivers liscence time, but there are consequences for not doing it, read up on it.

[RedCappedBandit]

8. Teach your son well and it wont matter

:)


They like to call me relatively often. Little do they know, im probably the last person they should be spending their time on.

[ourbluenation]

12. He did it himself online after putting it off for a year. The notice came in the mail after he

registered to vote last year and several since, so he went online and registered a few weeks ago. When he was in high school we sent that letter in opting him out of that notification system. We've never heard from any recruiters during any of this.

[Toots]

13. They still do that heh?

I was automatically registered. Shortly ofter my eighteenth birthday I received notification. Wasn't much longer after that I was sent off for a physical and then I was listed four A.. Bummer...They had to send me four noticices though before I would respond once they said I had been drafted. Each seperate notice was about three months apart and the fourth was pretty nasty so I decided I better go. They never said a word to me about my tardiness though..

[Sonicmedusa]

15. So far, we have been completely unbothered my recruiters.

My son has mild learning disabilities and Asperger's and I have found he is doing far better with homeschooling with dual enrollment at the local tech college (he is still a high school student, however). Even when he was in high school, I "opted out" of any personal info going to recruiters.

He will be in school for at least another year, so there is not any need for finacial assistance - and despite encouragement from me, he has no interest in driving at this time - so he has no need of the services that would require him to be registered....yet.

I have no fears that my son cannot resist the lies of the recruiters, I am simply enjoying the quiet and would like to keep it that way. I am just wondering how bad it gets after registering.

[aikoaiko]

21. No, but if your son takes the ASVAB in school then expect phone calls

especially if he does better than 'epsilon minus'.

I wouldn't worry about sending in the Selective Service card. Only Democrats are talking about a draft and its just a stunt.

[blondeatlast]

27. They've lowered the standards on ASVAB considerable, too. nt

[DemBones DemBones]

23. There's no IF unless you want him to violate the law.

I wouldn't take the chance of having him prosecuted for not registering. When we had a draft, men who didn't register did two years in prison. I don't know what might happen now. Some draft boards are lenient, others are hard-ass.

He has to register at 18, you don't need to go with him. I think he's supposed to register right after he turns 18.

Just make sure he understands only to register with Selective Service, not to sign any papers offered to him by men in uniforms!

[Kali]

31. ...

according to http://www.draftresistance.org/

"Over 3 million names have been referred by the Selective Service System to the Justice Department for possible prosecution for violation of the Military Selective Service Act (failure to register). 3 million. They have prosecuted 13 people since 1980. What are they going to do, build concentration camps? Your chances of being struck by lightning are better than your chances of being prosecuted for refusing to register. The 3 million men referred to the Justice Department are called 'hard core' resisters by Selective Service. They received 3 or 4 warning letters (bluffs) from the Selective Service and still blew them off. Millions more are in violation of the law for moving and not re-registering. This law has the highest rate of non-compliance since the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s."

[ComerPerro]

29. he will get a Mach 3 razor :)

[Kali]

30. look around on both of these sites

http://www.sss.gov/ (note photo of disturbingly cheerful young men and patriotic eagle and flag)

http://www.draftresistance.org/