ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the current Selective Service System as well as the All-Volunteer Force system in place. It explores some of the enablers and barriers to the success of both programs in terms of full and equitable inclusion and participation of all American citizens. The chapter concludes with the most recent debate in the United States (US) Senate about sustaining the Selective Service System. The US law of conscription mandates that men living in the US between the ages of 18 and 25 must register for selective service. During the spring of 2016, the topic of the nation's conscription and Selective Service System was revisited by both houses of the Congressional Armed Services Committees when the question of including women in the Selective Service System was discussed. Justice Marshall assailed the ruling as a rebuke against women's civic responsibility and, more troubling, that the Court skirted its obligation of upholding its responsibility to the Constitution.
