	Background

The Military Selective Service Act established the Selective Service  System whose mission is to be prepared to provide trained and untrained  manpower to DOD in the event of a national emergency when directed by  the President and the Congress. According to DOD, the Selective Service System  must deliver the first inductees within 193 days from when the President  and the Congress authorize a draft, and the military services then are to  train, equip, and accommodate in other ways the new inductees. DOD Included Information on the Six Required Reporting Elements but Additional Information May Benefit the Commission’s Ongoing Review

		DOD Included Information on the Six Required Reporting Elements in Its Report

DOD included information on each of the six required reporting elements  in its July 2017 report to Congress and the Commission on the purpose  and utility of a registration system for military selective service, as shown  in table 1. Additional Information May Be Useful for the Commission’s Ongoing Review of the Military Selective Service Process

While DOD included information on the six required reporting elements in  its report, we identified additional information that may be useful in  supporting the ongoing review of the military selective service process by  the Commission. Specifically, based on our review of DOD’s report and  our prior work, the Commission could benefit from additional information  on (1) DOD’s requirements and timelines for the induction of individuals  into the military services who are selected through a draft, and (2) the  perspectives of the military services on the military selective service  processes. First, one of the six required reporting elements in the NDAA for FY 2017  required DOD to provide a detailed analysis of its personnel needs in the  event of an emergency requiring a mass mobilization, along with a  timeline for obtaining these inductees. In response, DOD provided the  personnel requirements and a timeline that was developed in 1994 and  that have not been updated since. DOD’s report states that the all-volunteer  force is of adequate size and composition to meet DOD’s personnel  needs and it has no operational plans that envision mobilization at a level  that would require a draft. Thus, they  did not conduct any additional analysis to update the plans, personnel  requirements, or timelines for responding to an emergency requiring  mass mobilization. As such, we recommended that DOD establish a process of  periodically reevaluating DOD’s requirements for the Selective Service  System in light of changing operating environments, threats, and strategic  guidance. Since DOD did not perform additional analysis to reevaluate its  requirements or timelines for obtaining inductees to respond to this  mandate and the most recent requirements were determined based on  assumptions developed in 1994, we continue to believe our 2012  recommendation is valid. An updated analysis would also benefit the  Commission by informing their study and recommendations. Second, the military service officials that we met with told us that their  perspectives on the selective service processes that would affect them  had not been solicited in the preparation of DOD’s report. Additionally,  the services are expected to provide support to the Selective Service  System during a national emergency. We agree that the requirements for critical skills will evolve over time;  however, any discussion of a draft using the selective service process— as presented in DOD’s July 2017 report—that focuses on specific military  occupational specialties would benefit from the perspectives and input of  officials from the military services and the impact a draft may have on  meeting those demands. Specifically, these officials would be helpful in  identifying the needed critical skill sets for their emerging mission  demands and the impact a draft may have on meeting those demands. DOD officials within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for  Manpower and Reserve Affairs stated that they are currently collecting  the perspectives of the military services on the selective service process  and plan to provide this information to the Commission. These officials stated that they sent it to 18 organizations,  including the Cabinet positions listed in the act and to additional  organizations that were recommended by the National Security Council or  that had some role or responsibility in the event of a draft. Further, these officials  viewed the questionnaire as an opportunity for the respondents—the  military services in the case of DOD—to provide their ideas regarding  military selective service processes, both current and future.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Military Selective Service Act established the Selective Service System whose mission, among other things, is to be prepared to provide trained and untrained manpower to DOD in the event of a national emergency when directed by the President and the Congress. In the NDAA for FY 2017, Congress included a provision requiring that DOD submit a report on the current and future need for a centralized registration system under the Military Selective Service Act. In addition, the act established a Commission to review, among other things, the military selective service process and report on it.
The act also included a provision for GAO to review DOD's procedures for evaluating selective service requirements. In this report, GAO compared the information DOD included in its report with the act's required elements and identified additional information that could benefit the Commission as it further reviews the military selective service process.
GAO reviewed DOD's report and the statutory elements and interviewed officials involved in the military selective service process to identify additional information that could benefit the Commission's ongoing review.

What GAO Found

In its July 2017 report to Congress and the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service (i.e., “the Commission”), the Department of Defense (DOD) provided information regarding each of the six required reporting elements contained in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017. Specifically, DOD provided information on:
1. the direct and indirect benefits of the military selective service system;
2. the functions performed by the Selective Service System that would be assumed by DOD in the absence of a national registration system;
3. the systems, manpower, and facilities needed by DOD to physically mobilize inductees in the absence of the Selective Service System;
4. the feasibility and the utility of eliminating the focus on the mass mobilization of primarily combat troops in favor of a system that focuses on the mobilization of military occupational specialties, and the extent to which such a change would impact the need for both male and female inductees;
5. DOD's personnel needs in the event of an emergency requiring mass mobilization; an analysis of any additional critical skills that would be needed in the event of a national emergency; and a timeline for when DOD would require the first inductees to report for service; and
6. a list of the assumptions used by DOD to conduct its analysis.
GAO identified additional information that may benefit the Commission's ongoing evaluation of the military selective service process. The fifth required reporting element required DOD to analyze its personnel needs in the event of an emergency requiring mass mobilization and a timeline for obtaining these inductees. In response, DOD provided the personnel requirements and timeline that were developed in 1994 and that have not been updated since. DOD officials stated that they did not conduct additional analysis to update these requirements because the all-volunteer force is of adequate size and composition to meet DOD's personnel needs. In 2012, GAO recommended that DOD establish a process to periodically reevaluate DOD's requirements for the Selective Service System. Although DOD concurred with this recommendation, it has not yet implemented it. GAO believes this recommendation is still valid. Having updated DOD Selective Service System requirements and timelines for a potential draft may be useful in supporting the ongoing evaluation of the military selective service process by the Commission.
Further, military service officials told GAO that their perspectives on how selective service processes that could affect them had not been solicited in the preparation of DOD's report. Since the military services are to receive, train and integrate the inductees; provide support to the Selective Service System during a national emergency; and could help identify critical skill sets needed to meet emerging demands and the impact a draft could have on meeting those demands, the military service officials' perspectives could be useful to the Commission. DOD officials stated that they are currently collecting these perspectives and plan to provide this information to the Commission.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is not making any new recommendations. GAO believes its 2012 recommendation to DOD to periodically reevaluate its requirements for the Selective Service System, which DOD concurred with, is still valid. DOD had no additional comments on this report.