Selective Service System
registration at age 18:
Before you register:
- Read the information below.
- Seek out a qualified draft counselor, attorney or draft counseling agency.
- Consider your options.
Why might some men decide not to register?
These links help answer the question:
If you decide to register:
- You may register several different ways-on line, by mail, at your high school -BUT, if you want to document that you are a CO, you must use the mail. You can get a form at the Post Office or it might be mailed to you. This varies from person to person.
- Fill the form out accurately.
- You can not officially request conscientious objector status at the time you register. You can only do that after a draft is enacted and you receive an induction notice.
- Print in legible black ink somewhere on the registration form: I AM A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR TO WAR IN ANY FORM. (Do not cover any of the information.) This does not give you a CO classification, but it may help you later to document your position as a CO.
- Make two photocopies of your registration form for your own records before you mail your copy to SSS.
- Fold each of the photocopies in half and tape shut. Address and mail one to yourself and the other to the second location of your Peacemaker File. Put each in the file. This documents the official date on which you tried to explain that you are a CO.
NOTE to Mennonites, and to anyone attending a Mennonite college:
Funds are available to replace any loans or scholarships which you might lose if you don't register. See "Student Aid Fund for Nonregistrant"
