Men Can’t Be Selective About Registering With Service

The draft board is coming to Orange County this week.

No, Uncle Sam doesn’t want you, but he would like to know where you are.

He’s concerned that young men aren’t registering with the Selective Service.

The situation has gotten so bad that the agency will launch the kind of media blitz seldom seen in post-Cold War days.

“We are concerned about California because you have 10% of the [U.S.] population, and you are one of the problem states in terms of compliance with the law,” said Lew Brodsky, the service’s director of public and congressional affairs.

The state’s ranking for compliance has dropped to 48 out of 50, service officials said. Of the 15,000 men who turn 18 every month in California, fewer than two-thirds will register with the Selective Service within the required 30 days. A fair chunk of those will fail to register before their 26th birthday and at that point they have committed a felony. While technically required to sign up soon after turning 18, they can still do so until they turn 26.

There are a number of ways to register for the draft. Young men can sign up on the Internet at https://www.sss.gov or by getting a card at the post office. Soon, they will be able to call in their draft-age status over the telephone.

Those who don’t sign up can feel the sanctions even if they are never hauled into court. If a man turns 26 and does not have a Selective Service registration number, there are few options for getting one. And the penalties can be tough.

Top of the list is denial of federal and state financial aid for students. Many public sector jobs, in government and law enforcement, are cut off. Then there is the extremely remote chance of prosecution by the U.S. Department of Justice, which has not convicted anyone of evading the Selective Service since 1983. Those who do not register will notice no repercussions unless they apply for financial aid or seek a civil service job. At that point, they can be denied the benefits.

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June 30 will mark the 25th anniversary of the mailing of the nation’s last draft notice.

No longer are service officials facing off with draft resisters and peace activists prevalent during the Vietnam War.

The problem now is that many young men, particularly those who do not speak English or who are living here illegally, don’t realize they are expected to check in with Uncle Sam, said Ron Markarian, the state’s director for the Selective Service System. All males between 18 and 25 are required to register, even if they are in the country illegally, he said.

The college-bound student is the most likely to be aware of the link between student aid and Selective Service registration, Markarian said. And teenagers who apply for drivers’ licenses will get a birthday card from the service, which is in contact with motor vehicle departments across the nation.

Ann Sciortino, associate director of financial aid for Cal State Fullerton, said students who apply for financial aid can check off a box on the form to automatically register.

“I can only remember three cases where the student willfully did not register,” said Sciortino, who has worked at the campus for 10 years. “It’s a nuisance, but not a problem.”

But high school dropouts, non-English speakers and foreign nationals are more difficult to reach. Only those with diplomatic status or temporary student visas are exempt.

During the statewide campaign, officials will meet with city councils, civics classes and city officials and reach out to foreign-language newspapers and other media. “We have even had our message printed on milk cartons and shopping bags,” Markarian said.

Congress would have to pass a law to implement a draft, and college students will not be given the deferments that were handed out the last time around, Markarian said.

“If we allow avenues of escape, we compromise the integrity of the Selective Service System to be fair and equitable,” he added. “That’s the underlying basis for these sanctions.”