SSS is important
As an applicant to the local Selective Service board I want to
admonish those in the media and seeking political office currently
disparaging our efforts in the Selective Service to implement plans
to identify new registrants for any potential draft.
Our national defense requires skilled personnel to carry out the
president’s program in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries we may
operate in militarily in the future. With known shortages of
military personnel with certain critical skills, and with the need
for the nation to be capable of responding to domestic emergencies
as a part of homeland security planning, changes must be made in
the Selective Service System’s registration program and primary
mission. Our efforts to identify the skill sets needed for military
service must not falter.
In April, our Selective Service System (SSS) took another step
forward in its goal to identify critical skill registrants with the
appointment of Jack Martin as acting director for the SSS. Mr.
Martin comes to the SSS from an executive position with the U.S.
Department of Education. The wise decision of President Bush to
continue Mr. Martin in his executive capacity with the Department
of Education, while simultaneously taking over the helm at SSS,
ensures we will be able to implement any military call-up the
president requires from the skills people we identify.
Most of the skill sets needed by our armed forces are acquired
in formal education settings such as high schools, colleges and
universities. In order to identify and locate individuals with
particular skill sets, we have further beefed up our Selective
Service team with the addition of Gregg Aldana to the mobilization
directorate. Mr. Aldana brings extensive database experience to the
SSS, including the development of a multi-tiered Microsoft-based
Web reporting system for the U.S. government.
All these changes serve to increase the effectiveness and
efficiency of the manpower delivery systems of the SSS.
As President Bush has said, we are in a war and a war needs
soldiers and sailors to ensure the safety of America, whether by
voluntary or by conscriptive means. Fortunately, the SSS is doing
its share to see that we have the soldiers and sailors we need for
the present and into the future. A draft serves to enable all young
Americans, men and women, to serve their country in the military
capacity that is most needed by our armed forces.
I encourage all Americans to visit the Selective Service Web
site at www.sss.gov for more information.
Michael A. Robinson
Castle Rock