Did you register with the Selective Service System (Draft) before you turned 26?

[JEDIYoda]

I didn't, and never knew how important it was until yesterday. From what I can remember about "the draft" (as it was explained to me), if you didn't sign up, the only downside was that you couldn't vote until you did so. When I was younger, I never cared about voting, so I didn't bother. I'm 34 now, and wanted to apply to work with the National Park Service, and apparently I'm not eligible, and never will be.

If you're unsure if you ever registered, you can go HERE for a quick check.

Oh, and for those who are unaware. If you don't register before your 26th birthday, you are permanently ineligible for any financial aid, grants, loans, etc., for education, and you also can never hold any federal jobs, like at the post office, or for the national park service.

This article details how assinine the SSS is, or specifically the penalties for not registering - Link

assinine?? hardly....

 

[shortylickens]

Didnt have to.
Was in DEP and joined the Navy not too long after my birthday.

 

[OCNewbie]

So, I have a pretty amazingly awesome end to my story. I remembered that, somehow, my mom had written down my social security number wrong at some point when I was a kid. It was off by one digit, and I probably used that number for many years. I'm not sure when exactly I realized it was wrong, but I know I was at least old enough to drive myself to the doctor's office. So, since I was basically out of options, I decided to use that old/wrong SSN to see if I had somehow registered with it. Welp... someone with my same last name, same date of birth, and same wrong SSN had registered about 7 months after my 18th birthday.

After reading all the horror stories online, about people who had been in situations that seemed much more likely to prevent them from registering versus mine, and yet they were still turned away, this new info didn't give me a great deal of confidence. So, I called the SSS, spoke with an agent, he looked up the record with the incorrect SSN, and asked me for the correct one, and fixed the problem!! I am now (and have been, apparently) registered, and I can honestly say that I have never in my life felt as much relief as I feel right now.

 

[zerogear]

Seems like I did; don't remember doing it. Perhaps it was something I did during FAFSA?

 

[Uppsala9496]

registered 1/23/1991.

 

[Oyeve]

Register in 1988 when I was 20. I aint worried as I am 45 and way too old to draft. If they want to draft my old ass the world will truly be fucked up.

 

[Spg1]

I said screw the man and did not register! But then again I was in the Marines for 5 years. I guess they registered for me.

 

[OCNewbie]

I talked to another one of my friends, a 39 year-old, and apparently he was never registered. His adoptive father never seemed to care about his education, and removed him from school when he was 15 so he could work for the family business. Of course, he never had the chance to get the information about the SSS as an 18 year-old in high school, since his schooling ended in the 8th grade. He's probably not likely to miss the 2 main benefits he no longer has access to: education money and access to federal jobs. It still seems awfully unreasonable to punish HIM for not registering, since he was not open to the channels through which SSS info generally gets delivered.

 

[Herr Kutz]

I registered about a month before my 18th birthday.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

According to the website, I registered about a month before my 18th birthday. Does that invalidate it?

 

[OCNewbie]

According to the website, I registered about a month before my 18th birthday. Does that invalidate it?

Note: The Selective Service System is now accepting early registration materials from men who are at least 17 years and 3 months old. The materials are kept on file and will automatically be processed when the registrant is within 30 days of his 18th birthday.

nt

 

[pcgeek11]

No. I never registered. I was already in the military.

 

[Schadenfroh]

I registered on or before my 18th birthday at my local post office, it was my duty as a male citizen to do so.

Hell even a TS Clearance only goes back 12-15 years.

If you are a male and born after the 50s, you are required to confirm that you registered for the draft and provide your SSS registration number so they can verify your status.

 

[OCNewbie]

If you are a male and born after the 50s, you are required to confirm that you registered for the draft and provide your SSS registration number so they can verify your status.

I think he was talking about how if you somehow never register for the SSS, you are ineligible for ANY federal government job, for life. As well as ineligible for government financial aid for education. I guess TS (top-secret?) clearance only requires a background check of 12-15 years? I honestly wasn't sure what he meant.

 

[MotionMan]

If you're unsure if you ever registered, you can go HERE for a quick check.

I knew I had registered. Apparently, I did it (or it became official) about 2.5 months after my 18th birthday.

MotionMan

 

[skyking]

I was in that first year after it was instituted.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

yes because I had to go get financial aid for school

 

[Doppel]

So, I have a pretty amazingly awesome end to my story. I remembered that, somehow, my mom had written down my social security number wrong at some point when I was a kid. It was off by one digit, and I probably used that number for many years. I'm not sure when exactly I realized it was wrong, but I know I was at least old enough to drive myself to the doctor's office. So, since I was basically out of options, I decided to use that old/wrong SSN to see if I had somehow registered with it. Welp... someone with my same last name, same date of birth, and same wrong SSN had registered about 7 months after my 18th birthday.

After reading all the horror stories online, about people who had been in situations that seemed much more likely to prevent them from registering versus mine, and yet they were still turned away, this new info didn't give me a great deal of confidence. So, I called the SSS, spoke with an agent, he looked up the record with the incorrect SSN, and asked me for the correct one, and fixed the problem!! I am now (and have been, apparently) registered, and I can honestly say that I have never in my life felt as much relief as I feel right now.

Wow! That is an awesome end. I felt pretty bad for you since you ARE f**ked otherwise and you cannot go back in time to the age of 24 to do it. Glad to hear this is sorted out

According to the website, I registered about a month before my 18th birthday. Does that invalidate it?

That would be dumb of them, invalidate you because you are TOO eager to sign up!