Sign-Up, but No Call-Up

Three weeks ago, at a White House breakfast with foreign policy experts, Jimmy Carter asked his guests whether they thought young Americans should once again be required to register for the draft--though not necessarily be drafted. To Carter's surprise, practically everybody at the table, from George Ball to Eugene Rostow, said yes. Until then, the President had opposed a resumption of registration, but he found himself swayed by the arguments of his breakfast colleagues. As he worked on his State of the Union address at Camp David, Carter decided to include an announcement that the Selective Service System would be "revitalized." To take this step, he felt, would show the world the seriousness of U.S. intentions in the midst of crises in the Middle East and Southwest Asia --and he probably was right.

An important reason behind the President's announcement is the cold fact that the system of depending entirely on volunteers for the Army, in effect since 1973, is not working well. Not enough young men are signing up, especially for the reserves, and the quality of recruits is falling off. In the event of war, the Army would need 100,000 inductees within two months and 650,000 within six months. But with the old draft boards out of action, the Pentagon figures it would take 110 days to get the first new recruits inducted into the armed services. That gap is supposed to be filled by the reserves, but those organizations are in no condition to shoulder so serious a responsibility. For instance, the Individual Ready Reserve, made up of those who have completed their active duty but are subject to quick call-up, numbers only 209,000. The Army National Guard has 345,000 troops, well below its 418,000 objective.

The President did not attempt to spell out the new Selective Service procedures. He did not say whether the registration would involve only 18-to 26-year-olds, as during the Viet Nam era. Everyone in the age group would have to register. Administration officials did say that individuals would be able to sign up by going to a local post office and filling out a "simple form." No draft cards would be issued, no classifications would be made, no physical exams required.

Most important, the President did not say whether the registration would include women. The subject is controversial, and especially explosive in an election year. Says a top Defense official: "Not only is the question not decided, it is wildly in flux." The best guess is that Carter will stick to his guns on equal rights and ask for the registration of women as well as men.

To get the authority to register women, and to get the necessary $10 million to revive the Selective Service System, Carter will have to go to Congress, where the issue of registration is already sharply dividing opinion even within parties. Democratic Representative Elizabeth Holtzmann of New York said the President should "get tough with our allies, not our young people." On the other hand, Democratic Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia declared that registration would "demonstrate a degree of will that has been lacking in this country since the Viet Nam War."

Most Americans will probably support the registration plan as a defense measure. An actual draft call, which would require congressional approval, would be something else. Practically nobody, including the President, thinks the U.S. public is ready for that yet.

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