Legal Resources: Draft Registration

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Draft Registration:

Almost all male U.S. citizens and male immigrants, who are 18 through 25, are required to register and keep their registration record current with the Selective Service. Men who have a disability and who live at home must register with Selective Service if they can reasonably leave their homes and move about independently. A friend or relative may help a disabled man fill out the registration form if he can’t do it himself. Neither the Military Selective Service Act nor the Presidential proclamation provide an exemption from registration because of a man’s mental or physical condition unless Selective Service is provided with documented evidence that the man is hospitalized or institutionalized; or home-bound and unable to function outside the home, with or without physical assistance; or is in such a physical or mental condition that he would not comprehend the nature of his registration with the Selective Service System.  A determination is then made by Selective Service as to whether or not the man qualifies for exemption from registration. If your son is not confined to an institution or homebound (completely bed bound), he is required to register.

If a man is placed in a hospital, nursing home, long-term care facility, or mental institution on or before his 18th birthday, had no breaks of institutionalization of 30 days or longer, and remained institutionalized until his 26th birthday, he is not required to register.

If he is confined to home, whether his own or someone else’s (including group homes), on or before his 18th birthday and cannot leave the home without medical assistance (for example, by ambulance, or with the help of a nurse or EMT), and remained homebound until his 26th birthday, he is not required to register.

Selective Service does not presently have authority to classify men, so even men with obvious handicaps must register, and if needed, classifications would be determined later. Being registered does not mean that a man will automatically be inducted into the military.

If a crisis were to happen which required a draft, men would be called to duty in a sequence determined by a random lottery number and birth year. Then the military would examine the draftee for mental, physical and moral fitness by the military to determine if the person is capable of being in the Armed Forces. Even though this may not seem to make any sense, the facts are neither the Military Selective Service Act nor the Presidential proclamation provide an exemption from registration because of a man’s mental or physical condition unless Selective Service is provided with documented evidence that the man is hospitalized or institutionalized; or homebound and unable to function outside the home, with or without physical assistance; or is in such a physical or mental condition that he would not comprehend the nature of his registration with the Selective Service System. In these cases, a determination can be made by Selective Service as to whether or not the man qualifies for exemption from registration. Otherwise, Selective Service is not allowed to “classify” men until the Congress and the President authorize a return to the draft in an emergency. Thus, all men must register… even those with obvious disqualifying disabilities.

How does the service/topic help the person with a disability or family support system?

A young man who fails to register with Selective Service may be ineligible for opportunities that may be important to his future. He must register to be eligible for federal student financial aid, state-funded student financial aid in many states, most federal employment, some state employment, security clearance for contractors, job training under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (formerly known as the Workforce Investment Act), and U.S. citizenship for immigrant men.

What is the registration process?

There are several ways to register, online being the easiest Click Here.
Other ways to register are listed on their website: Click Here.
The only information a man provides when he registers with Selective Service is his full name, date of birth, gender, social security number, if he has one, and current mailing address.

Recommended websites, YouTube videos, books on this topic?

sss.gov: The Selective Service System website Click Here

References:

Selective Service Registration website.
sss.gov

Information provided by sss.gov

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