ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 4, 1994                   TAG: 9403040137
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short


PENTAGON SAYS DRAFT REGISTRATION UNNEEDED

The government could end peacetime registration for the military draft with little risk to U.S. security, the Pentagon said Thursday. President Clinton said registration should continue temporarily.

All-volunteer forces and a reduced global threat make draft reinstatement "highly unlikely," the Defense Department concluded in a report to Congress. "Consequently, peacetime draft registration could be suspended without irreparable damage to national security."

The Pentagon stopped short of recommending an end to the Selective Service system, saying, "We should continue draft registration while we study possible alternative uses, such as applications to national service."

President Clinton said in a letter, also made public Thursday, that the Selective Service system should remain in place until the National Security Council concludes a similar review this spring.

- Associated Press



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