SSS now planning registration in programmers, linguists & engineers DRAFT!

[Dems Will Win]

If Bush is reselected and asks Congress for the DRAFT on April 1, 2005, as I have been predicting since November, all computer "experts", linguists and engineers would likely have to register by May 1, 2005 at their local Post Office. They will register first (after Congress passes some enabling legislation in November to add speciall skills to the current draft law), for the SSS has to compile their names in the new Special Skills database.

Induction of thousands would likely begin over the Summer of 2005 for those selected in the Special Skills Lottery--which is different from the regular drawing in that age DOES NOT MATTER. Everyone in the System Analyst pool, for example, male or female, age 20-44, is chosen by your birthday. THERE ARE ALSO NO MEDICAL EXAMS AS THERE ARE NO MEDICAL DEFERMENTS! Only "essential community service" counts as deferment.

The first 3 occupations are only the beginning. There are literally hundreds of occupations that the Pentagon could have a shortage of. So now your life may depend on what you have been putting down as your occupation on your IRS form--if Bush is reselected.

Kerry has a NO-DRAFT PLAN, so no posts saying Kerry would do the same thing. Unless you are prepared to repute each of Kerry's parts of his NO-DRAFT PLAN: Restructuring, increase re-enlistment and recruitment with real scholarships and pay and bene raises, no more invasions of other countries, creation of a volunteer Civilian Stability Corps, and bringing in NATO and other forces to Iraq for stabilization and getting out.


'Special skills draft' on drawing board
Eric Rosenberg
San Francisco Chronicle
March 13, 2004

http://www.notinourname.net/war/skills-draft-14mar04.htm

-snip-

Richard Flahavan, a spokesman for the Selective Service System, said planning for a possible draft of linguists and computer experts had begun last fall after Pentagon personnel officials said the military needed more people with skills in those areas.

-snip-

The agency already has in place a special system to register and draft health care personnel ages 20 to 44 in more than 60 specialties if necessary in a crisis. According to Flahavan, the agency will expand this system to be able to rapidly register and draft computer specialists and linguists, should the need ever arise. But he stressed that the agency had received no request from the Pentagon to do so.

-snip-

A Pentagon official familiar with personnel issues stressed that the armed forces were against any form of conscription but acknowledged the groundwork already underway at the Selective Service System.

"We understand that Selective Service has been reviewing existing organizational mission statements to confirm their relevance for the future," the official said. "Some form of 'special skills' registration, not draft, has been a part of its review."

-snip-

BUSH '04 = DRAFT '05

[cheezus]

1. ha. I've been putting STUDENT

[Dems Will Win]

3. Way to NOT go!

[bluestateguy]

2. Take Arabic, get drafted

This could result in a disproportionate number of Arabs being drafted. As for the computer skills, lets not kid ourselves, a disproportionate number of such persons are also foreign, subjecting them to the draft too.

It may also discourage many young people from majoring in such fields in college if it means they will be packed up and sent into the military.

[Dems Will Win]

4. Yes but these 3 occupations are just the beginning

Once the COngress enables, the DoD could ask for whatever occupation it's short of.

[legin]

5. In case you ain't seen this one

It's a pre Iraq war study (pdf file at bottom):
http://www.carlisle.army.mil/ssi/pubs/2003/reconirq/reconirq.htm

by the Strategic Studies Institute, there is a bit early on about the problems of not enough engineers etc in Haiti and Panama.

[Dems Will Win]

7. Thanks Legin!

Note this was a study obviously ignored in the prewar and postwar planning!

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

6. Let me see if I've got this straight

The United States -- the most powerful military machine the world has ever known -- has declared and won a war against a country with no air force, no navy and no appreciable army. Having won the war and subsequently occupied enemy territory, it is now necessary to call up the Reserves and National Guard, who now comprise 40% of the ground force in Iraq, extend the tour of duty beyond a year for those personnel already in Iraq and immediately turn around for another tur of duty those who return stateside.

Now we're running out of people, and will have to re-institute the draft.

So -- what would have happened had we attacked or been attacked by a country with substantial military assets? Moreover, how vulnerable are we right now to a military attack because of *'s war?

Has *, Crashcart and Rummy put our country in a position where we are unable to defend ourselves against a real enemy, which was the purpose of the military in the first place.

The Dems and moderate Repugs (if any are left) believe the purpose of the military is to defend the people of the United States. The neo-Cons believe the purpose of the military is to defend corporate interests worldwide, and to make the rest of the world a franchise of U.S. Inc.

Am I wrong, or have we gotten a little off track in the past three years?

[Dems Will Win]

8. Repub senators are worried we are now looking at a "strategic catastrophe"

The most likely future scenario now is a discredited U.S. no matter which way you look at it--if Bush stays in office past January.

[bemildred]

11. Much too optimistic.

Doesn't matter who is elected, that's a done deal.
Kerry will at least try to clean up the mess some,
stanch the hemmorhage.

[BrotherBuzz]

9. That's the way I see it, too...

The Bush* plan in all things:
Privatize the profits and Socialize the cost.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

17. Not vulnerable at all.

Lots of nukes wielded by people who think the end of the world is a GOOD thing is a mighty good deterrant.

[Dems Will Win]

10. kick

[Dems Will Win]

12. kick

[Nobody]

13. That explains everything

It especially explains why the Bush regime did nothing about stopping the hemorrhaging of tech jobs overseas. With so many people still out of work, it'll make their draft go down easier.

Am I living in the Twilight Zone?

[strategery blunder]

14. Why don't we call the Selective Service what it is?

Last I checked, it was called the Selective Service, not the Selective ServiceS. That means it should be abbreviated SS, not SSS.

More Government Newspeak, although it has been around for a while. And I have no problem with using the negative connotation of SS--it's more honest.

[doni_georgia]

15. This has me worried - what specifically constitutes "Computer Experts"

My husband is an IE Specialist. He writes computer applications, crunches numbers and analyzes data, but he does not have a computer degree (majored in Astronomy). Will they just be looking for the ones with DEGREES in computers? Thing is my husband was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1999. He is currently on anti depressants and anti anxiety meds. Would there be no deferrment for this? We have GOT to vote Bush out of office.

[seabeyond]

16. i say everyone just says no. lol

my husband fixes puters and does firewalls ect.... his degree in statistics. is there an age cause he is working on 40 in a couple years

[Dems Will Win]

20. The age will be 20 to 44

Man or Woman.

It will depend what day your birthday falls on really.

[RaRa]

18. Let's see the gay population skyrocket

I would love to see that policy bite them in their own assess!

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. We don't care and if you tell we won't listen

Yep taht policy will go uot the window as well as drug testing

[SnohoDem]

19. Has this EVER been tried?

I'm a SW/FW* geek. I do it because I love it, and lucky me, people pay me to do it. But has anyone ever tried to force people to write software? Suddenly someone says I _have_ to write code for less than minimum wage?

This could backfire and get monkeywrenched in ways that can't even be imagined yet. I'm sure people with other special skills see the same thing. A 'skills draft' won't work.

If DOD needs special skills, they should raise the pay scales and hire people to do the work.

*software/firmware

[TrogL]

22. Could you just bloody imagine

Drafting hackers and putting them behind your firewall?

Geez, if they did it to me I'd tie everything up in such knots they'd have to replace every piece of hardware and software more complicated than an abacus.

[htuttle]

21. There's a Darwinian element in this....

Really people. Anybody who tells the government that they have these skills is a fool.

It's not the same as with medical personnel. They have to get professional licenses to practice -- software engineers do not.

Don't even think about registering for this -- just ignore them like they ignored you when your job went overseas...

How could they possibly PROVE that a person has computer skills? Why couldn't one always say, "I'm completely incompetent and I can prove it!" And then they'd trust someone to write sensitive code who's forced to do so?

With medical personnel, they take an oath to administer proper medical care no matter the circumstances. So even if they draft a doctor, they can probably assume they'll do a diligent job due to this.

There is absolutely no equivalent to the Hippocratic Oath for software engineers. Even if they draft somebody, there's no way for them to force somebody to produce good code. "Sorry baas -- still won't link...Sorry baas, stil crashes," and so on.

[Fescue4u]

28. I agree but...

I suspect it won't be that easy.

THe government could strongarm technology companies to force their recognized experts to register. I.e, no government contracts unless they take affirmative action to make their employees register, etc.

[htuttle]

30. They'll need good luck with that tactic

A large number of those corporate 'recognized experts' are now citizens of India, not the US, even if they are working here in the states.

I'd say that if you are an unemployed IT worker, screw the special skills registration.

I have no intention of registering for anything further, whatever my skills. I was sort of coerced to register for SSS the first time when I turned 18 (my father wouldn't let go of my ear until I filled out the form...), but that's all they get.

[TrogL]

23. So that would replace all the gay translators they fired?

[redqueen]

24. This is why I won't be enrolling in a nursing degree program

Sorry, no draft for me, thanks.

[Nederland]

25. Mark my words

There will be no return of the draft. Its simply a naive dream of ignorant Democrats hoping Bush is stupid enough to restore it.

[Dems Will Win]

26. Bush is restoring it

He's spending $28 million to get the SSS up to 95% capability this year, even the Alternative Service--which hasn't been geared up in 31 years. They are preparing all the paperwork needed so the AS can start inducting by July 6, 2005.

Under the reactivation plan hidden within this so-called performance plan, Bush is reducing draft activation time from 193 days to 75 days by March 31, 2005! Add up the money and look at strategic objective 1.2, which tests the entire draft system down to holding a test lottery and issuing sample medical exam orders!

http://sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004

This means the first DRAFT LOTTERY could be June 15, 2005 if Congress is asked to pass a mere trigger resolution (no new law is needed).

[Nederland]

31. Old Arguments

I've argued with you "Bush is going to reinstate the draft" people over and over again. The same old ideas get regurgitated every time. Suffice to say that we simply disagree. I've bookmarked this thread along with others and come June 2005 we will see who is right. I suggest you do the same.

[Merrick]

29. I better get rich quick!

Anyone got any good get rich quick schemes? As a 27 year old I figure I can avoid this whole draft thing by making a load of money and quitting my job to become a shiftless rich guy.