Is Signing Up for the Draft Still Necessary for Scholarship Opportunities?

[Biscuit]

Ok so I'm kind of concerned here. I turned 18 May 19th this year and I just learned about the importance of signing up for the draft within a month of your birthday. Am I just screwed on some scholarships now or is there any way to fix this.

 

[Student100]

Ok so I'm kind of concerned here. I turned 18th May 19th this year and I just learned about the importance of signing up for the draft within a month of your birthday. Am I just screwed on some scholarships now or is there any way to fix this.

Did you register to vote? They will have signed you up when you did. Anyway, you can still register late. https://www.sss.gov/Registration/Why-Register

 

[Biscuit]

No I am not registered to vote. I know I can sign up late but will I miss scholarship opportunities?

 

[Student100]

No I am not registered to vote. I know I can sign up late but will I miss scholarship opportunities?

Not if you sign up now.

 

[Biscuit]

Not if you sign up now.

My friends are telling me it has to be within a month of turning 18 it was apparently announced at our school and I missed it or something, I'm still going to sign up though. Is there any truth to that one month rule?

 

[Student100]

My friends are telling me it has to be within a month of turning 18 it was apparently announced at our school and I missed it or something, I'm still going to sign up though. Is there any truth to that one month rule?

If you want any kind of federal financial aid, you have to register. The one month rule is to be in compliance with the law, you're currently committing a felony. A felony that they would probably never prosecute anyone over, or at least I haven't heard of such a case actually being brought by the DOJ in recent times.

All they want is for people to register. If you're a few months late and recently gotten a compliance notice, sign up now and it will be a "no harm, no foul" kind of deal - they aren't going to hold it against you. You're an adult now. You can't go back in time and change things, but you can control your actions at this point and time. While you're at it, register to vote and take part in all your civic duties.

 

[Biscuit]

If you want any kind of federal financial aid, you have to register. The one month rule is to be in compliance with the law, you're currently committing a felony. A felony that they would probably never prosecute anyone over, or at least I haven't heard of such a case actually being brought by the DOJ in recent times.

All they want is for people to register. If you're a few months late and recently gotten a compliance notice, sign up now and it will be a "no harm, no foul" kind of deal - they aren't going to hold it against you. You're an adult now. You can't go back in time and change things, but you can control your actions at this point and time. While you're at it, register to vote and take part in all your civic duties.

Ok thank you so much for the help.

 

[berkeman]

Did you register to vote? They will have signed you up when you did. Anyway, you can still register late. https://www.sss.gov/Registration/Why-Register

I've never heard of this before! At first I thought you guys were talking about another country like Sweden or something, but the link is clearly to the US government. Maybe I never heard about it because my kids registered to vote (and this is linked to that registration?), but still. And what is up with it only applying to men? That seems pretty screwy given the integration of women into the US military and their new ability to assume combat roles. Is this legislation behind the times or something?

 

[Student100]

I've never heard of this before! At first I thought you guys were talking about another country like Sweden or something, but the link is clearly to the US government. Maybe I never heard about it because my kids registered to vote (and this is linked to that registration?), but still. And what is up with it only applying to men? That seems pretty screwy given the integration of women into the US military and their new ability to assume combat roles. Is this legislation behind the times or something?

To be honest I'm just assuming he's talking about the US because of the 30 day rule. (You technically have 60 days, a month before you 18th birthday as well.)

Registering to vote and for the selective service are technically distinct, I don't think you need to be signed up with the selective service to vote per say. If you're a 18 year old male and go into a post office to register to vote though, they generally sign you with the selective service at the same time. At least they did at my local post office back in the day. It could have changed quite a bit since then, with all the options of online registering now.

I think women signing is up is something they're still working on:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/15/us/politics/congress-women-military-draft.html?_r=0

 

[Drakkith]

And what is up with it only applying to men? That seems pretty screwy given the integration of women into the US military and their new ability to assume combat roles. Is this legislation behind the times or something?

Pretty much.

My friends are telling me it has to be within a month of turning 18 it was apparently announced at our school and I missed it or something, I'm still going to sign up though. Is there any truth to that one month rule?

From the link in Student100's post: Men who do not register with Selective Service within the 60-day window are technically in violation of the law and should register as soon as possible. Late registrations are accepted up to the 26th birthday. However, once a man reaches his 26th birthday and still has not registered with Selective Service, it is too late!

 

[Fervent Freyja]

I've never heard of this before! At first I thought you guys were talking about another country like Sweden or something, but the link is clearly to the US government. Maybe I never heard about it because my kids registered to vote (and this is linked to that registration?), but still. And what is up with it only applying to men? That seems pretty screwy given the integration of women into the US military and their new ability to assume combat roles. Is this legislation behind the times or something?

The selective service system has existed for almost a century. I've never heard of a young man being forced to join the military, and it can simply be refused when drafted. I do agree that it should be abolished. This is part of a national homeland defense strategy to aid in mobilization, in the case that war is immediately upon us or an ally. There are around 2 million active duty military, those would be called to war first. 16 million young men are in a system ready to be called for combat. Out of 320 million Americans, 75 million are children. There are 125 million adult women and 120 million adult men. There was a big ordeal about this recently, when threats were pulled out to also require females to sign up for the draft, even the most extreme feminists got scared...

I don't think it is screwy when you consider that although women have been more integrated into the military, they still only make up 14%- that means most women don't want or don't feel they are fit to assume combat roles (they have a choice) or challenge a traditionally male occupation. Why make them? Do you really want American women to go to war, although it's evident that at 14%, the overall female gender doesn't choose it? America is most definitely still a patriarchy, ruled by men, and it will likely stay that way. I don't have a problem with that. But, I am always disappointed when I come across the bad attitude of some men these days. It's essentially one of abandonment of women and children. After the tens of thousands of years that women have stood behind men, some men allow one little century of a very new social experiment (which we have no idea how this will turn out), to cause them to throw their hands up and just walk away. All of the men in my bloodline have served or fought for this country, most before it was even America, they would be very disappointed in these defeatist attitudes as well. I certainly don't want my nephews in war as I don't want my daughter. But the huge difference is that I haven't planned to raise her in a way that would benefit her later in combat, it would actually work against her in that event; although some do raise their daughters that way, and that is it okay for them, but not my preference. Do I need to start getting her ready or something?

 

[Drakkith]

I've never heard of a young man being forced to join the military, and it can simply be refused when drafted.

Sure, but what are the consequences? Prison?

I don't think it is screwy when you consider that although women have been more integrated into the military, they still only make up 14%- that means most women don't want or don't feel they are fit to assume combat roles (they have a choice) or challenge a traditionally male occupation. Why make them? Do you really want American women to go to war, although it's evident that at 14%, the overall female gender doesn't choose it?

Why make them? Some would call it fairness (I'm not arguing one way or another, that's for another thread). And note that the majority of men never enter the military, so one could argue that not even the male gender chooses it. Though I agree that the military is still viewed as a being much more acceptable for men than for women in the eyes of the average person.

America is most definitely still a patriarchy, ruled by men, and it will likely stay that way. I don't have a problem with that. But, I am always disappointed when I come across the bad attitude of some men these days. It's essentially one of abandonment of women and children. After the tens of thousands of years that women have stood behind men, some men allow one little century of a very new social experiment (which we have no idea how this will turn out), to cause them to throw their hands up and just walk away.

I'm afraid you've lost me completely here, but don't worry about explaining it in this thread, as it would probably be off topic.

 

[Fervent Freyja]

Sure, but what are the consequences? Prison?

In the current registration system, a man cannot indicate that he is a conscientious objector (CO) to war when registering, but he can make such a claim when being drafted.

I do believe the system should be abolished, it hasn't been used in decades There would be sufficient volunteers if it came down to it, for at least a good length of time. No, it isn't entirely fair. But, if you want to debate and compare how many more hours american women still cook, clean, devote to other human beings, and work at the same time. Far from equal, not that I'm complaining, because I realize for most it is a preferred choice to handle much of that. How many hours does it take from a young mans time to sign up for it? Compare that with the number of hours a young girl has had to do something because of her gender, where the boys have not? Waiting in line for birth control? Women will have shopped for sanitary napkins for longer in their entire lifetime than it took a young man to register for the draft. A few hours versus a thousandfold, if you want to look at it that way. You can flip it around all day, but all ages and genders face their own challenges in being discriminated against. I recognize the inequalities that males also face.

Simply, hollering for fairness because they call for it is being spiteful and isn't setting a leading example is it? Is it helping anything at all to give them what they are asking for? No, it puts that person at the extreme feminist level, the same one that hurts young men (and children), so instead, that person becomes the equivalent to hurting young women (and children)! It teaches young men to pity themselves and be angry at the world.

The male gender chooses machines and sterile environments more often than the female, that is indisputable. Many women I know enjoy a little color in their lives. You can easily say more men would enjoy the environment the military provides more than more women would. Simple as that.

 

[Drakkith]

There would be sufficient volunteers if it came down to it, for at least a good length of time.

I suppose that depends on how popular the war is. I don't think the argument, "You can just say you're a conscientious objector to get out of it", is a valid one. I believe that in reality this rule would be changed if huge numbers of young men tried to get out of the draft. If that's true, then your comparison doesn't hold.

I was going to say more, but I refuse to get sucked into a discussion on gender equality.

 

[Fervent Freyja]

I suppose that depends on how popular the war is. I don't think the argument, "You can just say you're a conscientious objector to get out of it", is a valid one. I believe that in reality this rule would be changed if huge numbers of young men tried to get out of the draft. If that's true, then your comparison doesn't hold.

I was going to say more, but I refuse to get sucked into a discussion on gender equality.

PM me with it then. I love a good debate.

 

[berkeman]

PM me with it then. I love a good debate.

I'd like to be part of that private conversation. Please start it and include myself and Drak.

 

[OCR]

I was going to say more, but I refuse to get sucked into a discussion on gender equality.

Aw, common on... you can always become unsucked.....

I was going to say more...

That might be very informative... do it !

PM me with it then. I love a good debate.

That's just not fair... we all like a good debate...

Please start it...

In a new thread, so we can all be included... I promise I won't interject ... and, I'll "like" all your posts, honest...