<P> By the summer of 1940, as Germany conquered France, Americans supported the return of conscription . One national survey found that 67% of respondents believed that a German - Italian victory would endanger the United States, and that 71% supported "the immediate adoption of compulsory military training for all young men". Similarly, a November 1942 survey of American high - school students found that 69% favored compulsory postwar military training . </P> <P> The World War I system served as a model for that of World War II . The 1940 STSA instituted national conscription in peacetime, requiring registration of all men between 21 and 35, with selection for one year's service by a national lottery . The term of service was extended by one year in August 1941 . After Pearl Harbor the STSA was further amended (December 19, 1941), extending the term of service to the duration of the war and six months and requiring the registration of all men 18 to 64 years of age . In the massive draft of World War II, 49 million men were registered, 36 million classified, and 10 million inducted . President Roosevelt's signing of the STSA on September 16, 1940, began the first peacetime draft in the United States . It also established the Selective Service System as an independent agency responsible for identifying and inducting young men into military service . Roosevelt named Hershey to head the Selective Service on July 31, 1941, where he remained until 1969 . This preparatory act came when other preparations, such as increased training and equipment production, had not yet been approved . Nevertheless, it served as the basis for the conscription programs that would continue to the present . The act set a cap of 900,000 men to be in training at any given time and limited military service to 12 months . An amendment increased this 18 more months in August 1941 . Later legislation on December 20, 1942 amended the act to require all men from 18 to 64 to register, with those aged 20 to 44 being able for induction. 18 and 19 year olds were made liable for induction and the upper age limit for the draft was reduced to 37 beginning on November 13, 1942 . Service commitments for inductees were set at the length of the war plus six months . </P> <P> As manpower need increased during World War II, draftees were inducted into the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps . The Navy and Marine Corps enlisted inductees and volunteers under the same service agreements, but with different service obligations, while the Army (and Army Air Forces) placed inductees into a special service component known as the Army of the United States, commonly known as the "AUS". </P> <P> By 1942, the Selective Service System moved away from administrative selection by its more than 6,000 local boards to a system of lottery selection . Rather than filling quotas by local selection, the boards now ensured proper processing of men selected by the national lottery . On December 5, 1942, presidential Executive Order 9279 made it so that men from the ages of 18 to 37 could not voluntarily enlist even if they had not been drafted, providing protection for the nation's home front manpower pool . Paul V. McNutt, head of the War Manpower Commission, estimated that the changes would increase the ratio of men drafted from one out of nine to one out of five . The commission's goal was to have nine million men in the armed forces by the end of 1943 . This facilitated the massive requirement of up to 200,000 men per month and would remain the standard for the length of the war . The World War II draft operated from 1940 until 1947 when its legislative authorization expired without further extension by Congress . During this time, more than 10 million men had been inducted into military service . With the expiration, no inductions occurred in 1947 . However, the SSS remained intact . </P>

When was the last time america had a draft