Foreign-born U.S. Citizens Getting Drafted...?

[pax]

Just out of curiosity...

A friend of mine who's a U.S. citizen but not native-born was talking about the "war" the other day. He's afraid that he'll get drafted if there's a war. This sounded wrong to me, because I think he's too old for the draft (the cutoff age is 26, right?). I asked him why he thought this, despite the fact that he is too old to be drafted (he's 28 and would be at least 29 by the time they'd have to institute a draft). He said it's because foreign-born citizens get drafted first to take the front lines. I have no idea what "taking the front lines" means and have never heard of such a policy, official or otherwise, before. Anyone know anything about this?

 

[Dreadsox]

U.S. Military

What happens during a Draft?

Sequence of Events

Here is a brief overview of what would occur if the United States returned to a draft:

1. CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT AUTHORIZE A DRAFT
A crisis occurs which requires more troops than the volunteer military can supply. Congress passes and the President signs legislation which starts a draft.

2. THE LOTTERY
A lottery based on birthdays determines the order in which registered men are called up by Selective Service. The first to be called, in a sequence determined by the lottery, will be men whose 20th birthday falls during that year, followed, if needed, by those aged 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25. 18-year-olds and those turning 19 would probably not be drafted.

3. ALL PARTS OF SELECTIVE SERVICE ARE ACTIVATED
The Agency activates and orders its State Directors and Reserve Forces Officers to report for duty. See also Agency Structure.

4. PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND MORAL EVALUATION OF REGISTRANTS
Registrants with low lottery numbers are ordered to report for a physical, mental, and moral evaluation at a Military Entrance Processing Station to determine whether they are fit for military service. Once he is notified of the results of the evaluation, a registrant will be given 10 days to file a claim for exemption, postponement, or deferment. See also Classifications.

5. LOCAL AND APPEAL BOARDS ACTIVATED AND INDUCTION NOTICES SENT Local and Appeal Boards will process registrant claims. Those who pass the military evaluation will receive induction orders. An inductee will have 10 days to report to a local Military Entrance Processing Station for induction.

6. FIRST DRAFTEES ARE INDUCTED
According to current plans, Selective Service must deliver the first inductees to the military within 193 days from the onset of a crisis.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i'm not sure about the policy itself, but my guess for what the whole "taking the front lines" thing means is like the buffer. i don't even know if people fight in that man-to-man contact stuff you'd see in older war movies like gettysburg and glory, but the front line people would be the first ones, and most likely the section with the highest casualities. they'd be there almost solely to be killed and to help weaken the other side's defense (or offense)!

 

[STING2]

Soldiers on the "front lines" today are perhaps the best trained and most professional in the US military. The military no longer uses "human wave" tactics or troops as cannon fodder. Many of those who would be drafted probably would not be able to qualify for a combat position.

In any event, the US military upon mobilization of the reserves would have 3.2 million men(Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard). 3.2 million men is more than the total number of US troops on active duty during both the Korean and Vietnam conflicts and nearly as many as the number for World War I. Unless a prolonged crises on the scale of World War II were to happen, the draft is never coming back.

Your friend has a much better chance of winning the next Lotto, than the draft ever coming back.

 

[pax]

Sweet.