Drzava

In the past, how exactly did the draft work? You were sent a letter and I'm assuming given a few days to show up for duty, right? If anyone could tell me some info about this I'd greatly appreciate it.

I'm writing a story based in an almost Orwellian future in which the draft is there, but there is no major war. It is to keep young people in line and maintain a strong, active military. There are special jails for people that refuse the draft, or one can avoid it by contributing a monetary donation (very large) to support the military/state. I know this isn't how it worked (paying your way out), but I figure it would be best to know about the real draft before writing my own fictional draft/government.

Airborneguy

hmm, you seem to have already worked out an interesting possibility. Even though the draft was nothing like that for real, who's to say it is not in the future? Run with it...

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Emma LB

Well I can help there... they still draft in Germany. This half term the guys in my year all recieved letters from the military. They had to all turn up at some far away military base somewhere in the state (so they got the day off school). Not all on the same day, though. Each week about one or two had to go there though. At the base they are medically examined by a doctor and then put into a class. So if you are half blind you're excused from military service (so you're put into some low class). If you are really fit then you're asigned to the highest class, which means you can do any job. There are some classes inbetween, which mean you can't be a jet pilot or similar but can drive tanks and so on...
Then, after you've finished school and before you study all males, who can and want to (at least in Germany if you don't want to you go to the military you can instead do social work in old people's homes for example), have to report at some militry base. The military exchanges a few more letters first of course, to check when you've finished school so they can work out when your service will start. So you get the letter telling you when you must be at the base and when your service starts and what you must bring with you. You then say good bye and go off to do military service...

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Emma LB

I agree with Airbornguy, you can do what you want to of course, but yeah, I suppose it can't help to know what it is/was like in reality first. I think the bit about going to jail is probably realistic (as in your state you can't get out of it if you don't want to do it). It might be fun to add something like people trying to fake being ill so that they don't have to go to war, for example.

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"You should be the change that you want to see in the world." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
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Drzava

Thanks for the help. They quit drafting here and I'm not quite old enough to remember anything about it. I know people that have been drafted, but it really is much easier to just post online than seek them out and talk with them.