Exactly who is affected by US military draft as automatic registration begins this year

Millions of Americans are set to be automatically registered in the US military draft by the end of the year, with those eligible for service being placed straight into a government database, it emerged this week.

This follows a vote by lawmakers in December 2025 to streamline the draft process with an automated system, instead of the current requirement that all eligible 18-year-olds register with the Selective Service System (SSS) within 30 days of becoming an adult.

Automatic registration means that, by the deadline of December 2026, up to 15 million Americans will be entered into a database that, should another military draft be required, could see them called up to active duty.

Not everyone is affected by this, as a number of groups are exempt from being drafted in the event of a major conflict, a scenario that has seemed unlikely since the last conscription near the end of the Vietnam War. But the Trump administration has recently said a potential draft is 'on the table.'

15 million Americans fall into the age range eligible for automatic conscription (Getty Stock)

These comments were made by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during the current war and current ceasefire with Iran, where she said a draft is 'not part of the current plan right now', but that the president 'keeps his options' open to call millions of young Americans to war.

There is no currently active draft, with the last being in 1973, and any move to send ordinary young people into combat would require a vote by Congress, according to the SSS.

It should also be noted that, while President Trump won't rule out enacting a draft to enable his war aims, he himself deferred the draft four times to complete college, and then was diagnosed with bone spurs after graduating to avoid the draft for a fifth time.

This is not entirely uncommon for that era, with President Biden and Vice President Cheney also receiving deferments from the draft for similar educational and medical reasons during the Vietnam War, which saw 17,000 young draftees killed in combat - accounting for one in three deaths but only a quarter of the troops on the ground.

Who is affected by the US military draft

Should a draft take place right now, millions of young men in Gen Z would be told to put down their phones and pick up a rifle (Getty Stock)

Any male citizen or immigrant applying for citizenship aged 18 through 25 is eligible to be drafted into military service and will be automatically registered by December of this year.

Women are not eligible for the draft, though they can still enlist in the regular US armed forces to serve on the frontlines. Unsurprisingly, men already enlisted in the military between the ages of 18 and 25 are also exempt from the draft.

The only other exemptions are for young men who are hospitalized or otherwise housebound due to disability, all other young men are required to register regardless of medical issue or disability.

College students are not exempt from the draft, but can defer their enlistment until the end of their semester. Punishment for refusing the modern draft involves a $250,000 fine or up to five years in prison.

How would the US military draft work?

Should Congress vote to approve a military draft, not every eligible person entered in the automatic registration system run by SSS would be called up at once.

Instead, a lottery system would pick a number of people from each age cohort, starting at 20 and going up, year by year, until it has completed a draft of 25-year-olds. Then, the system would begin a lottery for those aged 18 years and 7 months, as well as 19-year-olds.

Similar to how the system worked during the Vietnam War, the lottery would be based off random birth dates, with all people falling under a certain date called up to active service.

But before anyone is put on a drone-filled frontline with an assault rifle and some rations, they will have to undergo the usual medical and administrative screening.

And for those who are conscientious objectors, or simply don't want to fight, local appeal boards would be established across the country to assess individuals on a case by case basis to see if they have a valid excuse, such as having financial dependents.

Requirements set by the Department of War stipulate that any eligible draftees will then be inducted into the military within 193 days of the draft being announced.