Military.com (I think run by the same group that does monster.com believe it or not -- correct me if I'm wrong) is usually a good source for a balance of articles and reports on America's military.
Their main headline today is from Cox News Service:
Draft Prepared For Unlikely Call
It seems the rank and file are concerned about the lack of recruiting but they're not worried because the Secret Service is ready-n-waiting. The article details a couple of points that folks here and elsewhere have been saying for a while -- changes to the system will make it easier for the Pentagon to select specific skill sets for a draft but will also make it harder to draftees to squirm out. (Though I'm sure there will always be a call for protecting our shores against sea gulls along the Gulf Coast...)
Draft Prepared For Unlikely Call
Cox News Service
June 10, 2005
ATLANTA - When the Pentagon releases its May recruiting figures Friday, the numbers are expected to show a continuing decline in those signing up for the Army and Marine Corps.
If that downward trend continues, the specter of a military draft to fill the ranks with able bodies is likely to loom large in Washington once again.
But William Chatfield, the new head of the nation's Selective Service System, said he did not anticipate that happening any time soon.
"Congress, not the president, would have to approve it and I have seen nothing to indicate there is any support for it there," Chatfield said Wednesday during a visit to Atlanta.
snip
Chatfield said modern technology would enable the Selective Service to conduct specialized drafts in the event people with specific skills such as linguists, medical personnel or computer experts were in critical demand by the military.
snip
"I like being ready to go, although not necessarily needing to use it," he said of the system.
Among the new Selective Service guidelines if a draft is implemented:
-- Few student deferments or exemptions would be allowed.
-- Conscientious objector exemptions would be based on moral, ethical or religious beliefs, not solely on religious beliefs.
-- Men would be most draft eligible in the year they turn 20, with 21- to 25-year-olds less likely to be called. In the previous draft, local boards often first drafted the oldest men who had not yet turned 26.
-- Local draft and appeal boards would better reflect the racial, ethnic and cultural makeup of the communities in which they are based.
"One of our missions is to make sure that any future draft is fair and equitable," said Keith Scragg, a retired Air Force colonel who is director of the Selective Service's Southeast region.
If you follow the link there's another link at the news site for their forums "Sound Off".
Nice to see they'll be more fair and equitable and, if they need techies maybe the 101st Fighting Keyboardists will be trading their mouse for an M16 after all...