 arguments between nations have resulted in war. Our own country has fought in a major war on the average of once every 22 years. Since war's basic need has always been manpower, nations have had to mobilize their manpower in order to wage war. Since biblical times, citizens have been drafted for service in war. The outcome of past wars has depended on the speed of these mobilizations. At times it seemed as if new and powerful weapons had made the individual soldier less important. But bitter experience has taught us that an increase of weapons always increases the need for men. Men have become more important in modern warfare because not only is their need for great numbers of them, but far more training is required for them in order to make them competent to operate the complicated weapons of today. In the past, slow mobilization of our manpower has prolonged every one of our wars. The revolutionary war could have been shortened had we been able to mobilize more quickly and effectively. Instead, it dragged on for seven long years. Even though the combined strength of our armed forces was many times that of our adversary, it is safe to say that most of our wars might have been prevented had we been prepared. Benefiting from these experiences, we are trying through military preparedness to lock the barn door before the horse is stolen. We now have a peacetime draft operated by the Selective Service System. The Selective Service System must be ready to supply men for any or all services in the event they cannot meet their needs through enlistment. The Congress has declared that an adequate armed strength must be achieved and maintained to ensure the security of this nation. The Congress has further declared that in our free society, the obligations and privileges of serving in the armed forces and in the reserve components thereof should be shared generally, in accordance with the system of selection which is fair and just and which is consistent with our maintenance of an effective national economy. The Selective Service System, in accordance with law and benefited by the experience of manpower procurement through our history, has established methods of operation. It is with these methods that we wish to acquaint you, how they work and what effect they have upon you. These are young Americans selected as being qualified to fulfill a military obligation established by Congress. This obligation is eight years in length and covers all physically fit young men in the nation. Normally, a minimum of two years must be spent on active duty. When this time must be spent, depends on a man's age and his eligibility for deferment. These are draftees, the final product of our Selective Service System. They've had two weeks training in the United States Army, but even after that short period of time, they're beginning to look, act, and in some cases feel like soldiers. We've heard why they're here, but how did they get here? Who selected them? Why were they selected? And how do they feel about it? I think secretly they heard us test these shoes to find out how quickly they were out. The way I feel it's going to be me first. You better tear up. The worst is yet to come. This place is driving me nuts. Walk, walk, walk. I've lost two inches since I've been here. Every time I think of those greetings, I get teet off. Mine came on an engraved card. How about yours? I'm sure with a black border on it here. I wouldn't mind so much if there were a war going on or something, but this business, here we are and everybody in civilian life is taking it nice and easy. Well, not everybody. Or most of them anyway. There I was all set to get going for myself. Then they put the finger on me. Now what? Two years and nothing. Well, I'm in the same boat and I guess just about everybody is, but I don't mind it too much. I don't think time in the service ever hurt anybody. Oh, except like a hole in the head. By the way, what army are you recruiting for? No, I'm serious. It all depends what a guy tries to get out of it. And as far as coming in now, what's the difference? You still have to come in sooner or later. Well, you could get a deferment. That's what I should have done. Yeah, but you still have to come in sooner or later, no matter what you do. You mean I know guys who got them for school and for work and have still got them as far as I know? Sure, but you see, a deferment is good for only one year and then you have to ask it all over again. And if you haven't got a good reason, they'll take it away from you. You can get them renewed. Keep doing that pretty soon. You're 26. You get it made. Uh-uh. You see, a deferment is given only if the draft board thinks it's better to let a guy keep on with what he's doing. And suppose you think about this, once you get a deferment, you're liable for the draft until you're 35 instead of 26. Is that right? Yup. Well, I told you that when you went into register. That's when I found out. Up until then, the only thing I did know was that you had to sign up within five days after you're 18, no matter what. If you don't, you're liable to get picked up for being a draft doctor. Knowing that, I thought I'd be gone for I could say, ah, yes or no. But I soon found out that they can't draft you until you're 18 and a half. That is, unless you want to go sooner and volunteer. Top people in each community. Your neighbors are picked to be members of the board that classifies you. They're familiar with the needs of their town or city and therefore no best when it comes to deciding what selections and deferments should be made. This, plus all the authority given local boards by selective service law, makes it easy to consider each case individually. About 85 percent of the people with selective service are not paid. They feel you can't put a price on being patriotic. And that's what it is, because none of them have to do the job if they don't want to. Selecting people, some of whom may be friends, neighbors, and even relatives, especially in time of war, is tough. It's an honor too, since members are appointed by the president on recommendations from the governors. Even foreigners have to register for the draft. Some may not choose to serve, a choice given them through our treaties with their native countries. But if they don't, they can't become United States citizens. Yes, that's right. Generally, after aliens have resided in United States for six months, they're required to register under the Selective Service Act. Now, if you'll sign, please, here. There, that about does it. Now, several days will send you this registration certificate. Now, you must carry this with you at all times. Most of the boys put it in their wallet. Now, when you receive it, you will notice there'll be a number on the back of this card. And every time that you communicate with this board, we'll appreciate your, including this number, as it is one of the quickest ways for us to locate you in our files. Now, I mention this because, regardless of where you move, you're always going to remain a registrant of this local board. I mean, if I move to another state, I have to come all the way back here to get them? Oh, no, no. That won't be necessary. You can go to the nearest local board and they'll work with us on it. Then we will send you, very soon, a classification questionnaire. And you'll fill that out and send it to us in 10 days. Now, on the basis of the information in this questionnaire, the local board will classify you. Now, if you desire to submit anything else that you think that would help the local board in properly classifying you, you may do so. Now, every time you move, you must notify us of your change of address. And anytime that you have any questions that, or any problems that you think we can help you with, you come in and see us. Now, if you're classified in Class 1A, the local board will notify you where and when to appear for your pre-induction physical examination. If you're found qualified, or a local board will notify you, then you'll be placed on a list in this local board according to your age with the other available men in this local board. The age merely establishes your priority in relation to the other available men in this local board. The top man is the first one to go when we receive our next call. Oh, I'll be 1A, okay. But what are some of the other classes? Well, now, I have a list of them here. Maybe you'd like to see it. Now, here we have Class 1A. Those are the registrants who are available for service. Then we have the Class 1AO. Those are the registrants who are morally opposed to serving in the armed forces in a combatant capacity, but are willing to serve as long as they don't have to fight conscientious objectors, you know. Then we have Class 1C. Those are registrants who are members of the armed forces, public health, Coast and Geodetic Survey, and certain registrants who have had previous service. Then we have Class 1D. Those are registrants who are members of reserve and ROTC units. Now, we have Class 1O. That covers the registrants who on religious grounds object to serving in the armed forces in any capacity. However, they are available for assignment in certain civilian occupation. Now, we have Class 1S. Those are the students who are deferred by law. I want to ask about that. I was planning on starting college. Well, if your number comes up in this local board for induction in your full-time college student, the local board under the provisions of the law will defer you until the end of the academic year. Now, Mr. Yates, our chairman will be in soon, and maybe you'd like to discuss that further with him because we have Class 2S, which covers students who desire to complete their college education. Class 1S also covers high school students. Under the provisions of the law, high school students are deferred until they graduate, until they reach 20 years of age, or until they drop out of school, whichever is the soonest. Now, we have Class 1W. Those are the conscientious objectors who are now serving in the certain approved civilian positions. Now, here we have Class 2. That covers the registrants who are deferred because of their essentiality in certain positions, including agriculture and study. Now, we have Class 3. That is for the registrants who are deferred because their entry into the armed forces would create an extreme hardship on their dependent. Now, Class 4 covers certain registrants who have had previous service, the sole surviving son of a family whose son or sons have been killed in the service, certain elected officials, divinity students, and ministers. Now, Class 4F covers those registrants who are found physically, mentally, or morally unfit for service. Now, all registrants, after they pass the age of liability, are classified in Class 5A. Now, I have a list of those here. Maybe you'd like to take it along with you and read it. Thank you. Well, this makes it pretty easy to figure out how everybody should be classified. But say somebody thinks he should be in another classification than the one the board puts him in. Is there any way he can have the classification changed? Selective service provides for cases of this sort through the right of appeal for all classifications except 4F. When you receive your notice of classification, you have 10 days in which to make an appeal. This appeal may be in the form of a request for a personal appearance before the local board, or if they refuse to change their classification, a written appeal through the local board to your state appeal board. If the state board votes unanimously against the appeal, the classification stands. But if one or more votes are cast in your favor, the appeal may be taken to the presidential appeal board in Washington, D.C. Their classification, based on the file submitted, is final. You even have someone to help you with your appeal. He's the government appeal agent, unpaid, and appointed the same way local board members are, usually a lawyer. It's his job to look out for the rights of the registrant and those of the government. There's a lot more to selective service than pulling names out of a bowl as we see here. About 40,000 members work tirelessly to support our armed forces, protecting both the welfare of the country and the rights of the individual. These people are spread throughout a vast system of 56 headquarters located in states, territories, and possessions, plus one each for New York City and Washington, D.C., everywhere, from large cities to small towns and rural areas, and, of course, the national headquarters in Washington. Selective service provides for the future as well as the present, as we see in the policy of deferment for certain students in order to maintain educational levels. Now, what would you like to know? Well, I'm planning on starting college, but it looks as if the draft is going to throw a monkey wrench into the works. You just registered with us? Yes, sir. That means you won't be called for a while. You could start college. Yeah, I know, but I'd hate to get pulled out halfway through. Well, you wouldn't have to be. I hear something I'd like to have you think over. You take this with you. So he went on to tell me about deferments and how to go about making applications. Did he make any suggestions? No, we just said that if I was going to school when I was called, I could get deferred until the end of the year. That is, provided I was going full-time and was passing everything. Well, what about after the year's up with then? Well, then I could apply for another type student deferment by taking a qualification test. If I could pass the test or keep in good standing in my class, I could probably stay on right until graduation. Also, another way to do it would be to join an ROTC unit. And after I finished that, during school, I'd go on active service for two years. No matter what I do, I still have that two years active service. Well, then it's not a question of whether or not you go into service, but when and how you do it. Right. And I can enlist right up until the time I receive my induction notice, that is, if I want to. Well, how do you feel about the whole thing? I don't know. That's a tough thing to decide. But I think I just as soon go in now and get it over with. Well, do you know how long you'd have to wait before your number comes up? Didn't they tell you that? No, I asked the same question, but they said they could only guess. You see, they don't know themselves until about two months ahead of time just how many men they have to send. So I might have to wait quite a while. But you can volunteer to go sooner, though. You can? Sure. Then they can give you a good idea of when you might go. You see, by volunteering, you go right to the top of the list. That might be the best thing to do. I'm beginning to think so. I just want to get started on something and not waste time. And as far as the army goes, I might get a job that would teach me something I could use in civilian life. Seems like there might be a good chance of that with all these modern things they have in the army today. Sure. Now, some of the guys who went in a while ago wrote and said they're doing just about everything under the sun. I always thought there wasn't much to do in the army except march around and carry a gun. But like you said, what with all these modern things, atomic weapons and guided missiles, need a lot more training. And it doesn't make any difference in which branch of the service you're put, because there are hundreds of difference of jobs in each branch. I over 600 in the army alone. And if you asked me now what I wanted to major in in school, I couldn't tell you. It might be that the army will get me interested in one particular thing. So then I could go to a special school for that when I got out instead of going just anywhere. I'm glad to see you feel that way. I saw so many people when I was in the service who figured they'd gotten a raw deal and they just didn't make any effort to help themselves or the service. Oh, I don't think it's a raw deal. It is that a lot of guys have gotten one. As far as I'm concerned, there's a good reason for it. That's right. When there's a war going on, everyone realizes why they're going in. It's just a little bit harder to understand now, but that still doesn't mean there isn't a good reason for it. Maybe you won't use any or all of the experience you get in service, but you're certainly not wasting your time as long as you're learning. I know I learned a lot when I was in the service. A lot about getting along with all kinds of different people and situations. A lot to help me grow up. Dinner's ready. What's the big discussion? Oh, talking about the draft. I think it's a shame the way these boys are having their lives interrupted. You don't want to be a soldier, do you? No. Making soldiers out of all these babies. Don't worry. You know how mothers are about losing their sons. Come on, let's get some home cooking. You'll be missing it soon enough. Like students, certain people in particular jobs are deferred. This is done in order to balance the requirements of civilian life with those of the service. Since physically fit young men have to serve sooner or later, the deferments merely adjust each man's induction date so it'll be at a time the draft board thinks is best. People who need time to finish essential jobs and those who can't be replaced right away are the kinds of people that are deferred. In some skills it's been recognized that we have shortages. The president has designated a number of these skills as being short and in need of apprentice trainee programs to select and train unskilled workers. Here again, members of certified training programs may be deferred. Farmers are also considered when weighing civilian and military needs. No army or any service for that matter could do without food. Therefore some farmers are deferred to keep the farms producing. What all these deferments boil down to is that during a man's period of liability he'll be used when and where he can do the country the most good. Notice in hand I reported for my pre-induction physical. There was a good size group there. The first thing they did was to tell what we'd have to do during the day. We discovered what they mean when they say in the army it's hurry up and wait. Seemed like most of the day was spent in lines waiting for something to happen, but actually by the time the day was over we'd accomplished a lot. To begin with we took our mental test. It was one of those multiple choice deals. Pretty interesting test. Current events and practical application of things I'd learned in school. I wanted to myself. What would happen if I failed it? I know the army doesn't want morons, but when it came right down to it I tried just as hard as I could and it seemed as though everybody else was doing the same thing. After everybody finished the papers were passed in, corrected and the marks read off. I got a fairly high mark which surprised and pleased me. Once we finished that we lined up for our physical examination. They certainly gave us a thorough physical. They carefully checked everything I could think of and more. Eyes, ears, heart, lungs. By the time I got to the end of the line I felt as though I was in pretty good shape. And so today for they said that as far as the army was concerned I was physically fit. You know right now the army is the only one that is taking draftees but all the services can and did during World War II. When lunch was over we went back to finish up the processing which consisted of filling out some papers, loyalty certificates and so forth. About mid-afternoon we were through and they let us go. Outside a bunch of us got together and decided we would like to volunteer to go right away. So off we went to the draft board. And down at the draft board they had us all signed volunteer statements and told us that they would let us know as soon as possible when we were to go. Sure enough I got the notice in a couple of weeks. Since I was waiting for it and was all set to go I was happy when it came. But mom and Ann, Ann's my girl were upset. They make you feel like you're going away and never coming back. They mean well but they just don't understand sometimes. But the army really didn't pick me. You see they just needed somebody and it turned out to be me. Who decide you'd go? Those people down at the draft board. Mr. Yates, Mr. Thomas and the others. I don't like them. Oh come on now somebody had to do the job. You see actually it was a lot of generals down in Washington who decided that they need some more draftees. So they asked Selective Service to get them. Well Selective Service figures out just how many each state in each territory in Puerto Rico have to send. Territories in Puerto Rico. Sure. Hawaii and Alaska and all the other territories in Puerto Rico have to send men. I could just see a couple of guys from Alaska reporting to their draft board on a dog sled. I suppose they have to do it though. Well now getting back to what I was telling you. You see Selective Service tells each state how many men they have to send. Well the state in turn tells each city and town and that's how we get the call down here. As soon as the town got it they went to the top of their list starting with the oldest man who was 1A and worked on down. But they didn't get as far as you. No but they were getting close and I decided to hurry it up a bit and get it over with. So you see in a way it was those generals who picked me. Pretty important guy huh. I bet you're more important to me than those old generals. Maybe honey but don't forget they outrank you. Duty calls you know. Oh I know but I don't have to like it do I. Now you're going to be ready for that party we're going to tonight. We'll have to leave about seven thirty if you want to get there. Even had a party thrown from me all the gang was there and we had a great time. Although I couldn't help feeling a little sad because I realized that I was leaving something that I could never quite come back to again a lot like moving away from their old neighborhood and leaving all your friends behind. I've been to parties of the same kind for pals of mine who left before sure makes a difference when you're the guy that's going. I guess it's times like that when you realize you're growing up. And it hurts a bit. Well time was short after that what was saying goodbye to friends and relatives and getting things in shape to leave. I said goodbye to the folks at the house the morning I left and went down to where we were supposed to meet by myself. I hate goodbyes and I didn't like the idea of doing it in front of everybody. As it was most of the fellas did the same thing. Some of the members of the local board were there to see us off. I thought to myself they must have seen a lot of fellas leave here month after month. Some that didn't come back theirs is not the easiest job in the world by a long shot. It was only a short ride to the induction center where we had a quick physical inspection and then we were sworn into the army. I have to admit I got a funny feeling when we stepped forward for the swearing in. I guess I just felt this was it. I was finally in the army. There was an army sergeant there a nice pleasant looking fella not much older than myself but there was no fooling around when he hustled us on to the bus. It wasn't far to the army camp and I realized as we entered the gate that selective service had done its job and delivered us signed and sealed. So here I am after two weeks training. I still feel pretty much like a civilian but I'm beginning to feel a lot like a soldier too. He's still wondering what it's all about but it won't be long before he realizes that we're all doing our small part to keep the nation just the way it's always been. Sure we all give up something but after all you hardly ever get or keep anything worthwhile without working for it. Many many people before me have thought enough of our democratic way of life to work at it and so do I. I wish it was possible to protect our freedom in some other way than being ready for war but if that's what it takes then I'm all for it and who knows perhaps someday I'll be appointed to work for selective service. And if I am I hope I can do as good a job of protecting democracy as selective service people are doing today.