As President Donald Trump prepares to sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin for crunch talks on the conflict in Eastern Europe, there’s fears that Americans could be drafted into war if tensions bubble over.
If World War III does kick off, you’ll want to know everything on whether or not you could be selected to bear arms, and fortunately, I’ve got you covered. Well, metaphorically, as I’m actually British and I’d like to imagine we’d sit on the sidelines toward the end of it this time around.
Since the 79-year-old Republican reclaimed the Oval Office in January, he’s been pushing for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to cease but his efforts have bared no fruit whatsoever.
His administration has added an extra incentive to get involved, brokering a minerals deal, which will see the US establishing a reconstruction investment fund which means the sovereign state will work alongside its western ally to rebuild its heavily bombed infrastructure.
Then, of course, you’ve got Trump ordering the airstrikes of nuclear sites in Iran back in June.
Who will be drafted?
Since 1917, the US has been drafting soldiers through its Selective Service System – which is basically a lottery of everyone living in the US aged between 18 and 25.
As many as 1.9 million were conscripted into the military to fight in the Vietnam – which ran from 1954 until 1975.
To this day, Americans are ordered to register with the Selective Service System despite their not being an active draft call – failure to do so could result in a maximum fine of $250,000.
Currently, only young men must enrol. However, there’s talks to include women as part of the Selective Service Act of 1917.
Also included in the draft are refugees, green card holders and undocumented immigrants.
Those aged between 18 and 25 could be drafted to fight if World War III ever kicks off (Getty Stock)
Who is exempt from the draft
As just mentioned, women are not included. Those with a severe disability may also be exempt but will still need to register.
Then there’s the conscientious objectors – a famous example being Desmond Doss, an US Army medic who served in the Battle of Okinawa during World War II and who the movie Hacksaw Ridge is about.
Conscientious objectors might be deferred on national need, so too could full-time students, those in the tech infrastructure business and essential workers.
Parents and caregivers with children could also receive hardship deferments.
The draft lottery
Men who turn 20 in the calendar year of whenever the lottery is called would be the first to be drafted. For example, if conscription began this year, those born in 2005 would be the first to boot up.
Then, it would be those who turn 21 in the year of the draft, then men turning 22 would be third, and it would continue until a man turns 26 – who would be not required.
Men aged 18 and 19 would be called once those aged 20 to 25 had been.
It would also be covered live by the media for national TV, and in this day and age would probably be live-streamed on social media.
World War I draft in process, as Secretary of War, Newton Barker, drawing the first number from the bowl (Getty Images/Bettmann)
How does the draft lottery work?
It works just like the lottery – or as close as you’d get anyway. There’s two large air lottery machines, the first has 365 balls – 366 for men born in a leap year and a date and a month is labeled on each of them.
The second, has the same number of balls but just with the numbers one to 366.
I’ll let the Government’s dedicated page for the Selective Service System explain the next part.
“One lottery ball is drawn randomly from the machine containing those with dates marked on them, and one is then drawn from the machine containing balls with numbers 1 through 365 (366 if the draft will call men born during a leap year) marked on them,” it notes.
“The date and number are paired to establish the sequence number for each birth date. For example, if the date August 4 is drawn first from the ‘date’ machine, and the sequence number of 32 is drawn from the ‘numbers’ machine at the same time, then those men turning 20 on August 4 would be ordered for induction processing only after men whose birthdays drew sequence numbers 1-31.
“The drawings continue until all 365 (or 366) birthdays of the year are paired with a sequence number.”
After completion of the lottery and the results are certified, the sequence of call is sent through to the Selective Service System and letters are sent out almost immediately.
It adds that they are sent ‘to men whose birth dates drew the lowest lottery numbers, starting with sequence number 1’.
