Selective Service to test draft machinery

KASIE HUNT

Associated Press -

WASHINGTON - The
Selective Service System is making plans to test its draft machinery in
case Congress and President Bush need it, even though the White House
says it doesn't want to bring back the draft.

The agency is planning a comprehensive test - not run since 1998 -
of its military draft systems, a Selective Service official said. The
test itself would not likely occur until 2009.

Scott Campbell, the service's director for operations and chief
information officer, cautioned that the "readiness exercise" does not
mean the agency is gearing up to resume the draft.

"We're kind of like a fire extinguisher. We sit on a shelf,"
Campbell told The Associated Press. "Unless the president and Congress
get together and say, 'Turn the machine on' ... we're still on the
shelf."

Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson prompted speculation about
the draft Thursday when he told reporters in New York that "society
would benefit" if the U.S. were to bring back the draft. Later he
issued a statement saying he does not support reinstituting a draft.

The administration has for years forcefully opposed bringing back
the draft, and the White House said Thursday that policy has not
changed and no proposal to reinstate the draft is being considered.

The "readiness exercise" would test the system that randomly chooses
draftees by birth date and its network of appeal boards that decide how
to deal with conscientious objectors and others who want to delay
reporting for duty, Campbell said.

The Selective Service will start planning for the 2009 tests next
June or July, although budget cuts could force the agency to cancel
them, Campbell said.

President Bush said this week he is considering sending more troops
to Iraq and has asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to look into
adding more troops to the nearly 1.4 million uniformed personnel on
active duty.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, increasing
the Army by 40,000 troops would cost as much as $2.6 billion the first
year and $4 billion after that. Military officials have said the Army
and Marine Corps want to add as many as 35,000 more troops.

Recruiting new forces and retaining current troops is more
complicated because of the unpopular war in Iraq. In recent years, the
Army has accepted recruits with lower aptitude test scores.

In remarks to reporters, Nicholson recalled his own experience as a
company commander in an infantry unit that brought together soldiers of
different backgrounds and education levels "in the common purpose of
serving."

Rep. Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, plans to introduce a bill
next year to reinstate the draft. House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi has
said such a proposal would not be high on the Democratic-led Congress'
priority list.

Hearst Newspapers first reported the planned test for a story sent to its subscribers for weekend use.

The military drafted people during the Civil War and both world wars
and between 1948 and 1973. Reincorporated in 1980, the Selective
Service System maintains a registry of 18-year-old men, but call-ups
have not occurred since the Vietnam War.