The United States ended conscription, the military draft, in 1973. The all volunteer military came about because of mass protest over the Vietnam war. Richard Nixon believed, and not without reason, that opposition to the war would wane, and his re-election chances would improve, if young men didn’t fear being called up for service. The draft was becoming more and more unpopular, as activists raided draft board offices and young men burned their draft cards. In so doing they forced the issue which led to the end of conscription.
But it was not long before a different kind of draft re-emerged. In 1980 under pressure from the Iran hostage crisis and an election campaign in which he was painted as being “weak” on defense, Jimmy Carter enacted a Selective Service system which required young men to register for a kind of quasi conscription when they turned 18 years of age. They did not have to serve, but they had to sign up.
There were punishments, including being charged with a felony, and various inducements such as being eligible for student loans or government employment, which were withheld from those who didn’t register. But registration continued to lag as enforcement disappeared, memories grew short, and the military fell deeper into disfavor with young people. The army, navy and air force all fell short of their recruitment goals in the last fiscal........