military draft

17 Stories

White House Sees Solution to Ukraine's Manpower Problem

It wants draft lowered to age 18

(Newser) - President Biden's administration is urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by drafting more troops and revamping its mobilization laws to allow for the conscription of troops as young as 18. A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the...

Ukraine Raids Nightspots for Eligible Troops

Video appears to show officers detaining men

(Newser) - Ukrainian military recruitment officers raided restaurants, bars, and a concert hall in Kyiv, checking military registration documents and detaining men who were not in compliance, local media reported Saturday. Officers reportedly descended on Kyiv's Palace of Sports after a concert Friday night by Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy. Video...

Israel's Ultra-Orthodox Can't Avoid Draft, Top Court Rules

Supreme Court calls out 'inequality' in draft enforcement

(Newser) - Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students, some of whom have say they'd rather die than fight, must be drafted for military service anyway, the country's Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. The landmark decision threatens to destabilize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government, reports the New York Times . Israelis...

Congress Considers Expanding Draft to Women

Proposal is unlikely to become law amid pushback from Republicans

(Newser) - Congressional lawmakers are considering a proposal to update mandatory conscription to include women for the first time. With fewer than 1% of US adults serving in active duty combat roles and the Pentagon facing recruitment challenges, military experts in 2020 recommended Congress include women in the draft "in the...

House Panel Says Women Should Register for Draft

If there's an emergency, 'we need all hands on deck,' Republican says

(Newser) - It's been more than 48 years since the last soldier to be drafted in the US entered the Army—but the draft is still on the books, and lawmakers have taken another step closer to expanding it to women. The House Armed Services Committee voted 35-24 Wednesday night to...

SCOTUS May Soon Take a Look at Mandated Draft for Women
Supreme Court
Won't Wade Into the Draft
UPDATED
Jun 7, 2021 8:49 AM CDT

Supreme Court Won't Wade Into the Draft

Justices decline to take up case on whether male-only registration is discriminatory

(Newser) - The Supreme Court on Monday said it won't take up a case on whether the government's requirement that only men sign up for the draft amounts to sex discrimination, per the AP . In a statement, three justices said Congress is weighing whether to change the Military Selective Service...

Women Soon May Have to Register for the Draft

Commission makes formal recommendation to Pentagon

(Newser) - If a commission's recommendation is accepted, young women will have to register for the draft when they turn 18, just like their male counterparts. After a three-year study into whether women should be eligible for the draft, the panel has decided they should, reports Politico . The outlet got the...

Judge Rules That US Draft Violates the Constitution

Judge Gray Miller says it shouldn't be male-only

(Newser) - Women may soon have a new ritual on their 18th birthday: signing up for Selective Service. A federal judge in Texas ruled Friday that the current system—which requires men age 18-25 to sign up—violates the Fifth Amendment's due process clause of right to life, liberty, and property,...

Sweden Brings Back Military Draft—and Adds Women

Nation cites a deteriorating security environment and a lack of trained personnel

(Newser) - Sweden's left-leaning government introduced a military draft for both men and women Thursday because of what its defense minister called a deteriorating security environment in Europe and around Sweden, the AP reports. Sweden abolished compulsory military service for men in 2010 because there were enough volunteers to meet its...

Women Won't Have to Register for Draft After All

One senator calls it 'a victory for common sense'

(Newser) - Should conscription ever again be necessary in the United States, it'll still be men called first. Though now eligible to fill combat posts, women will not be forced to register for involuntary military service beginning in January 2018. The provision mandating that women sign up—backed by women's...

Senate: Women Must Register for Draft

Whether it will survive negotiations with House is unclear

(Newser) - The House and Senate will soon begin wrangling over their versions of the annual defense bill, and one component in particular is generating lots of heat: whether young women must register for the military draft. The Senate bill that passed on Tuesday requires them to do so, but the House...

Girl, 17, Sues for Right to Register for Military Draft

Files class-action suit against Selective Service

(Newser) - A teenage girl in New Jersey is suing the federal government for the right to be drafted. Or at least the right to register for the draft, which hasn't been used in decades. Though identified only as E.K.L. in the federal class-action suit, the Star-Ledger identifies the...

We Waste $24M a Year on the Draft: Lawmakers

Representatives push to do away with it—as women may have to join in

(Newser) - Two lawmakers are battling against what they deem an unnecessary tool of war: the Selective Service System—the organization that keeps records for any future draft. Reps. Peter DeFazio (a Democrat) and Mike Coffman (a Republican) say the success of the all-volunteer force has rendered the agency moot, and that...

So Can Women Be Drafted Now?
 So Can Women 
 Be Drafted Now? 
Jan 28, 2013 12:06 PM CST

So Can Women Be Drafted Now?

Selective Service: They don't have to sign up

(Newser) - Since they're now eligible to join combat units , should women be required to sign up for the Selective Service—the organization that keeps records for any future draft? At least for now, it seems that women will remain exempt: "Even though the secretary of defense has decided to...

Ultra-Orthodox Israelis Lose Draft Exemption

Leader warns of 'civil war' if devout conscripted

(Newser) - The draft exemption that ultra-Orthodox Jewish men have enjoyed since Israel's founding ended last night, and defense minister Ehud Barak has given the military a month to prepare for the change, reports AP . A law granting exemptions to religious scholars has expired and Israel's Supreme Court has ruled...

Bar Refaeli Dodged Draft Via Sham Marriage
 Bar Refaeli Dodged 
 Draft Via Sham Marriage 
SAYS ISRAELI GENERAL
Jan 14, 2010 7:21 PM CST

Bar Refaeli Dodged Draft Via Sham Marriage

General calls for boycott of products endorsed by model

(Newser) - Bar Refaeli, the Sports Illustrated cover girl and on-off girlfriend of actor Leonardo DiCaprio, dodged Israel’s compulsory military service with a sham marriage to a family friend, one of the country’s generals says in calling for a boycott of products she endorses. All Israelis must serve 2 years,...

To End Afghan War, Reinstitute the Draft

People didn't oppose the Vietnam war, they opposed going to fight in it

(Newser) - There’s one surefire way to end the war in Afghanistan: bring back the draft. After all, that's what worked in the '60s, writes cartoonist Jeff Danziger, who was drafted and served in Vietnam. The protests over that war ripped the country apart, grinding the war effort to a halt....

17 Stories