Selective Training and Service Act of 1940

Selective Training and Service Act of 1940

Other short titles	Burke-Wadsworth Selective Training and Service Act Selective Service Act of 1940
Long title	An Act to provide for the common defense by increasing the personnel of the armed forces of the United States and providing for its training.
Nicknames	Burke-Wadsworth Act
Enacted by	the 76th United States Congress
Effective	September 16, 1940
Citations
Public Law	76-783
Statutes at Large	54 Stat. 885, Chapter 720
Codification
Titles amended	50 U.S.C.: War and National Defense
U.S.C. sections created	50 U.S.C. Appendix § 301 et seq.
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 4164 by Edward R. Burke (D–NE), James W. Wadsworth Jr. (R–NY) Passed the Senate on August 28, 1940 (58-31) Passed the House on September 7, 1940 (263-149, in lieu of H.R. 10132) Reported by the joint conference committee on September 14, 1940; agreed to by the House on September 14, 1940 (233-124) and by the Senate on September 14, 1940 (47-25) Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 16, 1940

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Selective Service Training Act.

The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, also known as the Burke-Wadsworth Act, Pub.L. 76–783, 54 Stat. 885, enacted September 16, 1940,^[1] was the first peacetime conscription in United States history. This Selective Service Act required that men between the ages of 21 and 35 register with local draft boards. Later, when the U.S. entered World War II, all men aged 18 to 45 were made subject to military service, and all men aged 18 to 65 were required to register.^[2]

Effects of the Act

Signed into law by Franklin Roosevelt in 1940, the Act established the first peace-time draft in United States history.^[3] Under the Selective Training and Service Act, all American males between twenty-one and thirty-six years of age registered for the draft. The government selected men through a lottery system. If drafted, a man served for twelve months. According to the Selective Training and Service Act's provisions, drafted soldiers had to remain in the Western Hemisphere or in United States possessions or territories located in other parts of the world. The act provided that not more than 900,000 men were to be in training at any one time, and it limited service to 12 months.

Section 5(g) of the Act contained a provision for conscientious objection:^[4]

Nothing contained in this Act shall be constructed to require any person to be subject to combatant training and service in the land and naval forces of the United States who, by reason of religious training and belief, is conscientiously opposed to participation in war in any form.

Any such person claiming such exemption from combatant training and service because of such conscientious objections whose claim is sustained by the local draft board shall, if he is inducted into the land or naval forces under this Act, be assigned to noncombatant service as defined by the President, or shall if he is found to be conscientiously opposed to participation in such noncombatant service, in lieu of such induction, be assigned to work of national importance under civilian direction.

World War II draft

The draft began in October 1940. By the early summer of 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked the U.S. Congress to extend the term of duty for the draftees beyond twelve months. On August 12, the United States House of Representatives approved the extension by a single vote.^[5] As Under Secretary of the Army Karl R. Bendetson said in an oral history interview, "Mr. Rayburn banged the gavel at a critical moment and declared the Bill had passed."^[6] The Senate approved it by a wider margin, and Roosevelt signed the bill into law on August 18.

Many of the soldiers drafted in October 1940 threatened to desert once the original twelve months of their service was up. Many of these men painted the letters "O H I O" on the walls of their barracks in protest.^[3] These letters were an acronym for "Over the hill in October," which meant that the men intended to desert upon the end of their twelve months of duty. Desertions did occur, but they were not widespread. Following the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 7 December 1941, thousands of American men and women swelled the United States' military's ranks by volunteering for service, and thousands more by conscription.

After the United States entered World War II, a new selective service act made men between 18 and 45 liable for military service and required all men between 18 and 65 to register. The terminal point of service was extended to six months after the war. From 1940 until 1947—when the wartime selective service act expired after extensions by Congress—over 10,000,000 men were inducted.

Draft Classifications

See also

• Military Selective Service Act of 1948
• Civilian Public Service

Notes

External links

• Integration Fact Sheet
• Selective Service System
• Selective Service System Classifications for WWI, WWII, and Post-WWII through 1976