As the United States continues to strike Iran roughly 10 days since ordered by President Donald Trump, questions about how long the war may last have been coupled with the prospect of a military draft that administration officials admit remains "on the table.”
Six U.S. soldiers have been killed in the war that Trump has continually defended on the backdrop of what he and other senior officials have attributed to “an imminent threat” posed by Iran towards the U.S., Israel and other Middle East nations. The potential length of this conflict has drawn many assumptions, as Trump has floated a “4-5 weeks” duration while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been more clandestine in presenting any particular timeframe due to not giving away U.S. military strategies.
That, in turn, has led to questions of whether U.S. troops could ultimately be on the ground in Iran due to airstrikes historically not providing enough military might over time for sustainability.
On Sunday, Fox Business’ Sunday Morning Futures host Maria Bartiromo asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt about the prospect of Americans not enlisted in the U.S. military being forced to fight overseas.
“Mothers out there are worried that we’re going to have a draft, that they’re going to see their sons and daughters get involved in this,” Bartiromo said. “What do you want to say about the president’s plans for troops on the ground? As we know, it’s been largely an air campaign up until now.”
“It has been, and it will continue to be,” Leavitt said. “President Trump wisely does not remove options off of the table. I know a lot of politicians like to do that quickly, but the president as commander in chief wants to continue to assess the success of this military operation."
It’s not part of the current plan right now, but the president, again, wisely keeps his options on [the] table.
The press secretary then echoed other officials’ claims about the threat posed by Iran that led to U.S. airstrikes in the first place, mentioning the nation’s “threats” towards the U.S. for 47 years.
“They have killed and maimed thousands of American soldiers,” Leavitt said. “And President Trump was not going to allow Iran to attack our bases and our troops and our men and women in the Middle East first, and that’s why he took this historic action by launching Operation Epic Fury.”
Hegseth Stays Mum on Strategy
Leavitt’s remarks about a possible military draft was revisited hours after her interview, when CBS News' Major Garrett asked Hegseth on 60 Minutes about the U.S. having any “overt or covert forces” currently in Iran.
Hegseth said the U.S. currently does not before adding that he wouldn’t publicize to the enemy or the press if it did, adding, "We reserve the right."
We would be completely unwise if we did not reserve the right to take any particular option, whether it included boots on the ground or no boots on the ground.
The defense secretary added that the United States’ major goal as part of Operation Epic Fury is to “make sure their nuclear ambitions” are wiped out. Complete details for public consumption on how that comes to pass remain at a minimum.
“People ask, ‘Boots on the ground, no boots on the ground? Four weeks, two weeks, six weeks? Go in, go in.’ President Trump knows— I know—you don’t tell the enemy, you don’t tell the press, you don’t tell anybody what your limits would be on an operation,” Hegseth said.
History of US Conscription
A military draft in the United States would be a major step forward if it did occur. For more than three decades in the 20th century, it was the norm.
Men were drafted between 1940-1973 to fight in battles part of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Conscription was last a reality in January 1973 at the tail end of the Vietnam War, at which point the U.S. Armed Forces shifted to an all-volunteer military.
Prior to those three wars, however, conscription was rooted in U.S. history in different forms.
Militia members were sometimes recruited by their states to fight in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, though the broader government at that time lacked any authority to employ a widespread draft.
Attempts by President James Madison and his Secretary of War, James Monroe, to conscript up to 40,000 men to fight in the War of 1812 also failed due to anti-war sentiment pushed by outspoken members of Congress including Daniel Webster.
Decades later, during the Civil War, both the Union and Confederacy both conscripted soldiers; however, the percentage of conscripted soldiers to the overall number of troops was quite minute, with approximately 2% of Union fighters drafted.
There was also harsh backlash, notably in the Confederacy, whose own Congress in April 1862 passed an act declaring that white males aged 18-25 were not legally exempt from being required into military service for three years.
President Woodrow Wilson upped the ante during World War I, formulating a wartime strategy with the aid of Congress that depended on conscripted forces in addition to enlisted soldiers due to few Americans participating on their own volition. Archived reports suggest that roughly 70,000 American men enlisted at the time when upwards of 1 million new service members were wanted.
"The significance of this cannot be overstated. It is a new thing in our history and a landmark in our progress. It is a new manner of accepting and vitalizing our duty to give ourselves with thoughtful devotion to the common purpose of us all. It is in no sense a conscription of the unwilling. It is, rather, selection from a Nation which has volunteered in mass," Wilson said during a proclamation on May 18, 1917.
It is no more a choosing of those who shall march with the colors than it is a selection of those who shall serve an equally necessary and devoted purpose in the industries that lie behind the battle-lines.
The act required all men in the U.S. between the ages of 21-30 to register for military service. That led to some 10 million men nationwide being registered to fight.
Wilson’s intent, aided by the Conscription Act of 1917, led to opposition including from Eugene Debs, then head of the Socialist Party of America.
How Selective Service Plays Into a Draft
Selective Service also comes into play if a military draft is declared.
Also during World War I and under the auspices of President Woodrow Wilson, the Selective Service Act of 1917 established a "liability for military service of all male citizens"; authorized a selective draft of all those between 21-31 years of age; and prohibited all forms of bounties, substitutions or purchase of exemptions.
In more than a century, Selective Service has evolved and its benchmarks have been modified.
Current law dictates that nearly all male U.S. citizens and male immigrants living in the United States, aged 18-25, must register online, at a post office, or automatically through government processes such as federal student aid applications, within 30 days of their 18th birthday.
Registration stored in federal databases does not preclude automatically being sent to war. If a draft was instituted, the Selective Service would conduct a random lottery based on birthdates and would require draftees to undergo physical, mental and administrative screening, with potential deferments or exemptions for various factors including education, family circumstances, or conscientious objection.
Failure to register can carry penalties, including potential fines and restrictions on eligibility for federal student aid, certain federal jobs, and some state benefits. Although prosecutions are extremely rare today, registration remains a legal requirement and a longstanding part of U.S. national preparedness policy.
