The head of Selective Service, the U.S. agency that would oversee a military draft in the event one were ever to be reinstated, was in Honolulu last week, and one of his unending missions is to remind young men that they're legally required to sign up for the draft, even though we don't have one.

William Chatfield, the director of the Selective Service System, said the names of about 16 million men between the ages of 18 and 25 are on the rolls.

"There are 16 million names that if — if, not when — Congress would ever decide to bring back conscription, and I can't do it, the president can't do it, but if Congress were to vote a majority in both houses and the president decides to sign it to bring back the draft, then we're ready to rumble," Chatfield said. "We don't have to say, 'Oh, where do we go now?' "

Although Army and Marine commanders complain that frequent combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan have left their all-volunteer forces overstressed, overworked and unprepared for other possible conflicts, the return of a draft would be highly unpopular.

The mechanisms for the draft, including 10,500 individuals who would be on draft boards, and 65 mobilization stations across the country, remain ready, Chatfield said.

Draft-eligible young men, starting with those who are 20, would get a letter and have to report for the first time to a mobilization station for a physical within 10 days.

"I could promise (the Defense Department) that we would have them there when they are ready to receive them — it could be a month, could be a month and a half — whenever they are ready to receive them," Chatfield said.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, which created the country's first peacetime draft and formally established the Selective Service System.

From 1948 until 1973, men were drafted to fill vacancies in the armed forces. In 1973, the year the Paris peace accords were signed during the Vietnam War, the draft ended and the U.S. converted to an all-voluntary military.

The registration requirement was suspended in April 1975, and was resumed again in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Registration continues as a hedge against any future crisis.

Chatfield, a former Marine who was nominated to be head of Selective Service by President Bush, said the number of young men registered should be closer to 17.6 million.

Not signing up is a felony offense, punishable by five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine if the Justice Department were to prosecute.

"Which they haven't in 19 years," Chatfield notes. "But they could."

Chatfield said he prefers the carrot rather than the stick approach.

The law says that a young man must register within 30 days of his 18th birthday. Chatfield said it's possible to do so online at www.sss.gov.

Resident foreign nationals and dual nationals also are required to register.

Not registering can cause problems later in getting federal jobs, student loans and in obtaining citizenship.

Chatfield said it happens to quite a few.

"Most of them are innocent. They didn't rebel, they didn't say, 'Screw this, I'm not going to do it.' They say, 'I didn't get the word.' "

Hawai'i was in the bottom 10 of states and territories for registration compliance for 19-year-olds in 2005 and 2006, the most recent data Selective Service had on its Web site.

In both years, compliance was 78 percent to 80 percent.

Nationally, for men 18 to 26 years old, 91.5 percent of those who should be registered, are registered, Chatfield said.

"The good news (for Hawai'i) is they learn later, before they fall off the chart (at age 26)," Chatfield said.

For all young men in Hawai'i 18 to 25, about 90 percent are registered, which is close to the national average, he said.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said he does not favor a draft, even with troop shortages.

But it's a question that gets raised, particularly in this presidential election season.

Democratic candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton was asked about a draft last month by a parent in Indiana.

"I keep hearing in the newspaper that the military's close to being broken. To me, that sends a red flag up in the back of my mind that they're going to have to start drafting if they can't get people to join," said one man at the forum. "I have three sons that are draft-age right now, and it worries me."

Clinton said she didn't see the draft "as a likelihood at all."

"I think that the all-volunteer military has worked well. But you're right that it is stretched thin right now," she said.

Both Clinton and Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama, who has said he does not support a return of the draft, have said they favor withdrawal from Iraq. Sen. John McCain, who has clinched the Republican nomination, opposes a scheduled reduction in forces and plans to keep U.S. troops in Iraq.

He has said he opposes a draft.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.