Russia Ukraine: How likely is it that people will be drafted to fight in conflict?

News broke last night that Russia had officially begun an invasion of Ukraine after weeks of intelligence anticipating it. With rumors swirling that the invasion could trigger a global war, many are wondering - what are the ramifications for the US if a war did break out?

President Biden sat down with NBC News on February 10 to ease many Americans' minds about the US's involvement in Russia and Ukraine. He confirmed there was "no intention of fighting Russia."

But that hasn't stopped young people from flocking to TikTok for advice and information about the potential war and they're dealing with it the most Gen Z way possible - making jokes about a world war III and future draft.

Leave it to Gen Z to find a way to make light of an extremely serious situation.

The popularity of 'getting drafted for World War III' videos has some people wondering if the draft could be reinstated, especially now that a conflict is becoming more real.

Well, the short answer is: probably not. But there's no law that removes the draft entirely so it is technically a possibility.

The last time the draft was enforced was in 1964 during the Vietnam War but people were so unhappy about it that the US removed the draft in 1973 and it became volunteer-based - which it still is today.

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However, since the US government did not remove the draft entirely, the protocol still exists. To this day, all men between 18-25 years old are required to register with Selective Services within 30 days of turning 18.

The likelihood a draft would be reinstated is very rare. Not only would US citizens be very unhappy with that decision but the US military has over one million members and over 800,000 in the reserves. Coupled with the fact that President Biden said we would not be putting troops in Ukraine, there's no need to worry about a draft now.

That hasn't stopped people from making TikToks sharing ways they would avoid a draft if it was reinstated.

"Suddenly I strongly identify as a housewife" user @carelacat commented.

"Draft police is the only place I wanna discrimination," TikTok user @bueller_ said.

Women and people in the LGBTQ community have notoriously been excluded from the US military and the draft.

But that could possibly change with the court case National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System (2019) which declared it was unconstitutional for women to be excluded from the draft in Texas. However, the government has not done anything about this, and The Supreme Court denied a review of the case.

Similarly, the repeal of the 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' policy in 2011 meant gay and bisexual identifying people can serve in the military, and yes that includes the draft. However, the US military currently does not allow transgender men to serve in the military.

But there's no need to worry now about a draft, it's probably not going to happen.

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