The United States Army has been forced to clarify how a possible military draft might work after thousands of Americans received a text message warning them that they’d been drafted to serve in the Army and might be soon shipping out to Iraq.
According to U.S. News and World Report, several thousand people received spam text messages earlier this week telling them that their selective service card had been pulled and that they were now required to report to military recruiting as part of a nationwide draft. But there is, of course, no such draft in process.
U.S. military recruiting released a statement Tuesday reassuring those who received the message that they do not need to report for duty.
“A number of fraudulent text messages informing individuals they have been selected for a military draft have circulated throughout the country this week,” the statement reads. “U.S. Army Recruiting Command has received multiple calls and emails about these fake text messages and wants to ensure Americans understand these texts are false and were not initiated by this command or the U.S. Army.
“The decision to enact a draft is not made at or by U.S. Army Recruiting Command. The Selective Service System, a separate agency outside of the Department of Defense, is the organization that manages registration for the Selective Service.”
“Fact check: The U.S. Army is NOT contacting anyone regarding the draft. If you are receiving texts, phone calls or direct messages about a military draft, they are not official communications from the U.S. Army,” the U.S. Army General Command office reiterated on social media.
Fact check: The U.S. Army is NOT contacting anyone regarding the draft. If you are receiving texts, phone calls or direct messages about a military draft, they are not official communications from the U.S. Army pic.twitter.com/3S32De8ekP
— U.S. Army CGSC (@USACGSC) January 8, 2020
The text message warn the recipient that the U.S. Army has been trying to contact them through other means, but has now resorted to text message, and that the individual receiving the message is “marked eligible” for service and must appear at a military recruiting office within a few days for “immediate departure to Iran.” The message warns that failing to heed the appeal will result in a “fine” and up to six years in prison.
There have been several waves of panic over a possible draft since the United States launched a surgical strike in Iraq last Friday, killing a top Iranian general responsible for fomenting violence against the American military across the Middle East. The United States Selective Service website crashed Friday night after mainstream media outlets and self-described experts fomented concerns about a “World War III” on Twitter, and the Federal student financial aid office, or FAFSA, was forced to clarify that “fine print” noting that 18 year old males must register for the selective service before they are deemed eligible to receive Federal student loan money is not new and would not be used to mandate military service in exchange for funds.
The United States abolished the draft in 1973 in the wake of the Vietnam War. In order to begin drafting eligible adults for military service again, Congress would have to pass a law reinstating the draft, which the President would then have to sign. Given the current state of the military — and current tensions between the two parties in Congress — its unlikely that the Federal government will reinstate the draft any time soon.