Automatic military draft registration takes effect in December. Here’s how it would work

Automatic military draft registration takes effect in December. Here’s how it would work Andrew HarnikGetty ImagesFile

Young, eligible men will be automatically registered for the military draft pool starting in December as part of a measure tucked into the annual defense policy bill Congress signed into law late last year.

Men ages 18 to 26 must already register for selective service in case a draft is required. The last time a draft was in effect was February 1973, during the Vietnam War.

US Army soldiers raise their right hands as President Donald Trump conducts during a re-enlistment ceremony in Washington, DC, in June 2025.