Registering with Selective Service still mandatory
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“We were talking about the Selective Service,” Phillips said, “and we were discussing whether or not there was one going on anymore.”
Informed that the Selective Service was indeed still in existence, Phillips had some basic questions about how things worked since there was no longer a draft as such.
“I said, well, wonder where you sign up? Wonder how you go about doing that? I thought when the Vietnam War was over, and the draft was over, signing up wasn’t something you did.”
Upon being informed it was still mandatory, she got curious.
“So I proceeded to try to find out how you did this,” she said.
Phillips was informed by her son that he thought he had signed up for the Selective Service when he registered to vote, but she was told by someone else they thought it was done at the post office.
After calling the post office and being told you no longer register that way, Phillips called Veteran Affairs and then a military recruiter in Tullahoma. She finally found the Selective Service Web site where she discovered young men do sign up at the post office after all.
“There in bold print it says that you go to the post office and you can obtain the form,” Phillips said.
Phillips says the post office employee she originally spoke to wasn’t entirely in error though.
“What has changed, and why the post office gave me the answer they did, is that they no longer stand there and fill it out with you, which was the way it was done pre-Vietnam.”
Phillips found there are several ways to do it now, including registering on the Internet as well as the post office forms.
But she still wondered if most 18- to 25-year-old males know they have to register. It is very important to do so.
According to the forms, failure to do so within 30 days of an American male’s 18th birthday could result in a fine of up to $250,000 or five years imprisonment, since failure to register is a felony.
The post office in McMinnville has a prominently displayed case with the forms and information needed to take care of this vital piece of government regulation.
If you are an American male citizen between the ages of 18 and 25, make sure you have complied with this law. It should be noted that females are currently exempt from this requirement.
For more information, or to input your Social Security number to find out if you are registered, go to the Selective Service Web site at www.sss.gov.