IV.

Peacetime Conscription

The act of 1940 expired in March 1947. Shortly before that date, Congress established the Office of Selective Service Records, principally to preserve the records of the wartime conscription system for possible emergencies. The work of this agency greatly facilitated the implementation of the Selective Service Act passed by Congress in June 1948, whereby peacetime conscription machinery was set up for the induction of men between the ages of 19 and 26 for 21 months of service. Among those exempted from the provisions of this law were most veterans of World War II, the sole surviving sons of families that had lost all other sons during the war, and conscientious objectors found to be opposed to both combatant and noncombatant service. A maximum of 161,000 18-year-olds were permitted to enlist for a 12-month period of service within the continental limits of the U.S.; on the completion of this period they were assigned either to a reserve component for six years or to an organized reserve unit for four years.

Because of the high rate of voluntary enlistments, the army declared an unofficial ‘draft holiday” in March 1949. Up to that time fewer than 30,000 men had been inducted out of the more than 9 million who had registered under the 1948 law.