When Congress created the All Volunteer Force (AVF) in 1973, it kept one vestige of the old World War II-era draft: the requirement that all American males register with the Selective Service System on their 18th birthday. This seemed a prudent hedge during the Cold War, when America faced adversaries (the Soviet Union and China) with massive armies. Since the Evil Empire collapsed, however, the chance of fighting another 20th century-style war of attrition has receded, and the AVF has demonstrated its overwhelming strength over America's new adversaries on the battlefield. It is reasonable to ask whether draft registration serves any useful purpose today, or whether it, too, should be consigned to history.

Although it seems unlikely the United States will go back to the draft anytime soon, it is also true that America's military personnel have been stretched thin by a decade of increasing military engagement in the world and more recently by wars with, and post-war commitments in, Afghanistan and Iraq. At the same time, critical security needs both at home and abroad continue to go unmet for lack of an effective way to bring more Americans into civilian programs targeted at homeland security and reducing the conditions that breed terror overseas.

Instead of discarding the Selective Service System as an anachronism, therefore, this report proposes that it be reinvented as a recruiting device for voluntary national service. Specifically, PPI proposes to:

• Replace the current Selective Service System with a National Service System that recruits young Americans to serve in one of three programs targeted at our new security needs: the military's new, short-term "citizen soldier" enlistment program, which should be scaled up to ease the growing strains on our military personnel; AmeriCorps, the nation's leading civilian volunteer corps, which should be expanded to bolster homeland security; and the Peace Corps, which should once again be a vital component of U.S. efforts to promote political and economic freedom abroad.
• Require that both men and women register in this new National Service System.
• Continue draft registration for those who choose not to volunteer for any of the three service options.

This policy report traces the evolution of America's approach to raising the military forces for its defense, examines growing strains on our current model of military recruiting and the emerging demands for civilian security efforts, and presents a blueprint for converting the passive Selective Service System into a National Service System that actively recruits young volunteers to serve their country.

Blueprint Keywords: Extra National Service

Marc Magee is director of the Center for Civic Enterprise at the Progressive Policy Institute.