Selective Service to test 'draft machinery'

Federal law requires that all male United States citizens and male aliens residing in the United States and its territories must register within 30 days of their 18th birthday, including parolees, refugees, and applicants for asylum and all disabled men who are able to function in public, with or without assistance, and that any changes (such as addresses) must be submitted within 10 days until reaching the age of 25. Women are excluded from selective service.

WASHINGTON -- The Selective Service System is making plans to test its draft machinery in case Congress and President Bush need it, even though the White House says it doesn't want to bring back the draft.

The agency is planning a comprehensive test -- not run since 1998 -- of its military draft systems, a Selective Service official said. The test itself would not likely occur until 2009.

Scott Campbell, the service's director for operations and chief information officer, cautioned that the "readiness exercise" does not mean the agency is gearing up to resume the draft.

"We're kind of like a fire extinguisher. We sit on a shelf," Campbell told The Associated Press. "Unless the president and Congress get together and say, 'Turn the machine on' ... we're still on the shelf."

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