(Title 50 Appendix)
§ 455. Manner of selection of men for training and service; quotas
(a)
(1) The selection of persons for training and service under section 4 [section 454 of this Appendix] shall be made in an impartial manner, under such rules and regulations as the President may prescribe, from the persons who are liable for such training and service and who at the time of selection are registered and classified, but not deferred or exempted: Provided, That in the selection of persons for training and service under this title [sections 451 to 471a of this Appendix], and in the interpretation and execution of the provisions of this title [said sections], there shall be no discrimination against any person on account of race or color: Provided further, That in the classification of registrants within the jurisdiction of any local board, the registrants of any particular registration may be classified, in the manner prescribed by and in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the President, before, together with, or after the registrants of any prior registration or registrations; and in the selection for induction of persons within the jurisdiction of any local board and within any particular classification, persons who were registered at any particular registration may be selected, in the manner prescribed by and in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the President, before, together with, or after persons who were registered at any prior registration or registrations: And provided further, That nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the selection or induction of persons by age group or groups under rules and regulations prescribed by the President: And provided further, That—
(1) no local board shall order for induction for training and service in the Armed Forces of the United States any person who has not attained the age of nineteen unless there is not within the jurisdiction of such local board a sufficient number of persons who are deemed by such local board to be available for induction and who have attained the age of nineteen to enable such local board to meet a call for men which it has been ordered to furnish for induction;
(2) no local board shall order for induction for training and service in the Armed Forces of the United States any person who has not attained the age of nineteen, if there is any person within the jurisdiction of such local board who (i) is as much as ninety days older, (ii) has not attained the age of nineteen, and (iii) is deemed by the local board to be available for induction; and
(3) no local board shall order for induction for training and service in the Armed Forces of the United States an alien unless such alien shall have resided in the United States for one year.
(2) Repealed. Pub. L. 91–124, § 2, Nov. 26, 1969, 83 Stat. 220.
(b) Quotas of men to be inducted for training and service under this title [sections 451 to 471a of this Appendix] shall be determined for each State, Territory, possession, and the District of Columbia, and for subdivisions thereof, on the basis of the actual number of men in the several States, Territories, possessions, and the District of Columbia, and the subdivisions thereof, who are liable for such training and service but who are not deferred after classification, except that credits shall be given in fixing such quotas for residents of such subdivisions who are in the armed forces of the United States on the date fixed for determining such quotas. After such quotas are fixed, credits shall be given in filling such quotas for residents of such subdivisions who subsequently become members of such forces. Until the actual numbers necessary for determining the quotas are known, the quotas may be based on estimates, and subsequent adjustments therein shall be made when such actual numbers are known. All computations under this subsection shall be made in accordance with such rules and regulations as the President may prescribe.
(c) Terminated
(d) Whenever the President has provided for the selection of persons for training and service in accordance with random selection under subsection (a) of this section, calls for induction may be placed under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this section.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, not more than 130,000 persons may be inducted into the Armed Forces under this Act in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1972, and not more than 140,000 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1973, unless a number greater than that authorized in this subsection for such fiscal year or years is authorized by a law enacted after the date of enactment of this subsection [Sept. 28, 1971].
(June 24, 1948, ch. 625, title I, § 5, 62 Stat. 608; June 19, 1951, ch. 144, title I, § 1(k), 65 Stat. 83; Pub. L. 85–62, §§ 4, 5, June 27, 1957, 71 Stat. 207; Pub. L. 90–40, § 1(3), June 30, 1967, 81 Stat. 100; Pub. L. 91–124, § 2, Nov. 26, 1969, 83 Stat. 220; Pub. L. 92–129, title I, § 101(a)(8), (9), Sept. 28, 1971, 85 Stat. 349.)
heading: References in Text
text: This Act, referred to in subsec. (e), is act June 24, 1948, ch. 625, 62 Stat. 604, as amended, known as the Military Selective Service Act. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see References in Text note set out under section 451 of this Appendix and Tables.
heading: Amendments
text: 1971—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 92–129, § 101(a)(8), added cl. (3) covering induction orders for aliens residing in the United States for one year, to last proviso.
Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 92–129, § 101(a)(9), added subsecs. (d) and (e).
1969—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 91–124 repealed cl. (2) which prohibited President from effecting any change in method of determining relative order of induction.
1967—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 90–40 designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2).
1957—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 85–62, §§ 4, 9, temporarily, substituted third and fourth provisos for former third proviso “that nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the selection or induction of persons by age group or groups under rules and regulations prescribed by the President:”. See Effective and Termination Dates of 1957 Amendment note below.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 85–62, §§ 5, 9, temporarily added subsec. (c). See Effective and Termination Dates of 1957 Amendment note below.
1951—Subsec. (a). Act June 19, 1951, inserted last two provisos.
heading: Effective and Termination Dates of 1957 Amendment
text: Amendment by Pub. L. 85–62 to take effect on July 1, 1957, and terminate on July 1, 1973, see section 9 of Pub. L. 85–62, set out as a note under section 454 of this Appendix.
heading: Proc. No. 3945. Random Selection for Military Service
text: Proc. No. 3945, Nov. 26, 1969, 34 F.R. 19017, 83 Stat. 972, provided:
WHEREAS section 5(a)(1) of the Military Selective Service Act of 1967, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 455(a)(1)) [now the Military Selective Service Act], provides that selection of persons for training and service under that Act shall be made in an impartial manner without discrimination on account of race or color, under such rules and regulations as the President may prescribe; and
WHEREAS section 5(a)(2) of that Act (50 U.S.C. App. 455(a)(2)) limited the President’s authority to prescribe rules and regulations by requiring, in effect, the selection of registrants through a method known as “oldest first”; and
WHEREAS such section 5(a)(2) has been repealed by Public Law 91–124 of November 26, 1969:
NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICHARD NIXON, President of the United States of America, acting under and by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 5(a) of the Military Selective Service Act of 1967, as amended, and having determined that a method of random selection will provide the most equitable basis for selection of registrants for military training and service, do hereby proclaim the following:
That a random selection sequence will be established by a drawing to be conducted in Washington, D.C., on December 1, 1969, and will be applied nationwide. The random selection method will use 366 days to represent the birthdays (month and day only) of all registrants who, prior to January 1, 1970, shall have attained their nineteenth year of age but not their twenty-sixth. The drawing, commencing with the first day selected and continuing until all 366 days are drawn, shall be accomplished impartially.
On the day designated above, a supplemental drawing or drawings will be conducted to determine alphabetically the random selection sequence by name among registrants who have the same birthday.
The random selection sequence obtained as described above shall determine the order of selection of registrants who prior to January 1, 1970, shall have attained their nineteenth year of age but not their twenty-sixth and who are not volunteers and not delinquents. New random selection sequences shall be established, in a similar manner, for registrants who attain their nineteenth year of age on or after January 1, 1970.
The random sequence number determined for any registrant shall apply to him so long as he remains subject to induction for military training and service by random selection.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-fourth.
Richard Nixon.