Selective Training and Service Act of 1940

The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, also known as the Burke–Wadsworth Act,, was the first peacetime conscription in United States history. This Selective Service Act required that men who had reached their 21st birthday but had not yet reached their 36th birthday register with local draft boards. Later, when the U.S. entered World War II, all men from their 18th birthday until the day before their 45th birthday were made subject to military service, and all men from their 18th birthday until the day before their 65th birthday were required to register.

Effects of the Act

Parameters

The first peacetime conscription in the United States, the act required all American men between the ages of 21 and 35 to register and be placed in order for call to military service determined by a national lottery. If drafted, a man served on active duty for 12 months, and then in a reserve component for 10 years, until he reached the age of 45, or was discharged, whichever came first. Inductees had to remain in the Western Hemisphere or in United States possessions or territories located in other parts of the world. The act provided that except in time of war, not more than 900,000 men were to be in training at any one time.

Section 5 of the Act contained a provision for conscientious objection:

Nothing contained in this Act shall be constructed to require any person to be subject to combatant training and service in the land and naval forces of the United States who, by reason of religious training and belief, is conscientiously opposed to participation in war in any form.

Any such person claiming such exemption from combatant training and service because of such conscientious objections whose claim is sustained by the local draft board shall, if he is inducted into the land or naval forces under this Act, be assigned to noncombatant service as defined by the President, or shall if he is found to be conscientiously opposed to participation in such noncombatant service, in lieu of such induction, be assigned to work of national importance under civilian direction.

World War II draft

The draft began with the first registration on October 16, 1940, and the first men entered military service on November 18. By the early summer of 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked the U.S. Congress to extend the term of duty for the draftees beyond twelve months to a total of thirty months, plus any additional time that he might deem necessary for national security. On August 12, the United States House of Representatives approved the extension by a single vote; Roosevelt's former secretary of war Harry Woodring was among those opposed, writing to Senator Arthur Vandenberg that voluntary enlistment had not been fully tried. As Under Secretary of the Army Karl R. Bendetsen said in an oral history interview, "Mr. Rayburn banged the gavel at a critical moment and declared the Bill had passed." The Senate approved it by a wider margin, and Roosevelt signed the Service Extension Act of 1941 into law on August 18.
Some of the soldiers drafted in October 1940 talked about desertion once their original twelve-month obligation ended. Some painted the letters "O H I O" on the walls of their barracks in protest. These letters were an acronym for "Over the hill in October". In August 1941 the Congress extended the tour of duty--it passed the House by a one-vote margin--and O H I O collapsed. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941, millions of American men entered the United States military's ranks both by volunteering and by conscription.
Congress declared war in December, and amendments to the Selective Training and Service Act on December 20, 1941, made all men between the ages of 20 and 44 liable for military service, and required all men between the ages of 18 and 64 to register. The terminal point of service was extended to the duration of the conflict plus six months. Another amendment, signed on November 13, 1942, made the registered 18- and 19-year-olds liable for military service.
On April 27, 1942, the fourth registration was held nationwide, which encompassed men from the ages of 45 to 64, earning it the nickname of "The Old Man's Draft". Unlike the earlier registrations, its purpose was indirect; the individuals were not actually liable for military service. This registration was essentially a very broad inventory of manpower and skills useful to the war effort, potentially bringing under-utilized or unemployed men back into a more fruitful occupation, and allowing for the release of easily replaceable, younger, or more fit men to fight.
From October 1940 until March 1947, when the wartime Selective Training and Service Act expired after extensions by Congress, over 10,000,000 men were inducted.

Draft classifications

Class I: Available for military service

Class	Description	Date established	Date abolished
I-A	Nominally available for military service.
I-A	Nominally available for limited military service, but below standards for general military service.
I-A	Nominally available for military service, age 38 to 44 inclusive.
I-A	Nominally available for limited military service.
I-A, Remediable	Nominally available for military service after correction of defects.
I-A-O	Nominally available for noncombatant military service.
I-A-O	Nominally available for limited military service, but below standards for general military service.
I-A-O	Nominally available for noncombatant military service, age 38 to 44 inclusive.
I-A-O	Nominally available for noncombatant limited military service.
I-A-O, Remediable	Nominally available for noncombatant military service after correction of defects.
I-B	Nominally available for limited military service.
I-B, Remediable	Nominally available for limited military service after correction of defects.
I-B-O	Conscientious objector nominally available for limited noncombatant military service.
I-B-O, Remediable	Nominally available for limited noncombatant military service after correction of defects.
I-C, Inducted	Inducted member of armed forces.
I-C, Enlisted	Enlisted member of armed forces.
I-C, Discharged	Discharged from the armed forces.
I-C Deceased	Deceased while in Class I-C.
I-C	Enlisted or inducted member of armed forces, age 38 to 44 inclusive.
I-D	Deferred student, nominally available for general military service and available not later than July 1, 1941.
I-D-O	Deferred student, nominally available for general noncombatant military service.
I-E	Deferred student, nominally available for limited military service and available not later than July 1, 1941.
I-E-O	Deferred student, nominally available for limited noncombatant military service.
I-G	Member of or honorably separated from armed forces of cobelligerent nation, later extended to include registrants separated from American Field Service or Merchant Marine and persons interned by an enemy nation.
I-H	Deferred, aged 28 and over.

Class II: Deferred because of occupation

Class	Description	Date established	Date abolished
II-A	Deferred in support of national health, safety, or interest.
II-A	II-A previously rejected for military service.
II-A	Deferred in support of national health, safety, or interest, age 38 to 44 inclusive.
II-A	II-A previously found qualified for limited military service
II-B	Deferred in war production.
II-B	II-B previously rejected for military service.
II-B	Deferred in war production, age 38 to 44 inclusive.
II-B	II-B previously found qualified for limited military service.
II-C	Deferred in agriculture.
II-C	II-C previously rejected for military service.
II-C	Deferred in agriculture, age 38 to 44 inclusive.
II-C	II-C previously found qualified for limited military service.

Class III: Deferred because of dependency

Class	Description	Date established	Date abolished
III-A	Deferred for dependency reasons.
III-A	Deferred for dependency reasons. age 38 to 44 inclusive.
III-B	Deferred both by reason of dependency and occupation essential to the war effort.
III-B	Deferred both by reason of dependency and occupation essential to the war effort, age 38 to 44 inclusive.
III-C	Deferred both by reason of dependency and by agricultural occupation.
III-C	Deferred both by reason of dependency and by agricultural occupation, age 38 to 44 inclusive.
III-D	Deferred by reason of extreme hardship and privation to wife, child, or parent.
III-D	Deferred by reason of extreme hardship and privation to wife, child, or parent, age 38 to 44 inclusive.