Talk:Conscientious objection in the United States

Adding to history
The book To Raise an Army by Chambers gives a very good overview of the history of conscription in the United States. If anyone is interested, both this article and would benefit from its information. Gmarmstrong (talk) 19:23, 5 May 2017 (UTC)

Military branch-specific sections
Each branch of the United States Armed Forces has its own document(s) detailing the conscientious objector application process:
 * The Navy
 * The Marine Corps
 * The Army
 * The Air Force
 * The Coast Guard

This article would benefit from sections summarizing the information in those documents and how they differ from each other. Gmarmstrong (talk), 6 May 2017 (UTC)

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017
The information I posted here on May 6, 2017 signals a resurgence of the importance of this topic. Gmarmstrong (talk) 03:32, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Mirrors needed
The Coast Guard documents, COMDTINST 1900.8 and COMDTINST M1000.4, frequently (but don't always) raise 404 errors. This article would benefit from mirrors of those pages. Gmarmstrong (talk) 17:06, 6 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Gmarmstrong (talk) 11:11, 2 June 2018 (UTC)

Prior documentation
The Selective Service System does not provide documentation to conscientious objectors to make their position known when there is no draft. Given that a person could have as few as 9 days to seek such exemption, it is important for conscientious objectors to document their convictions themselves. Many guides for conscientious objectors, such as Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors publications (notably the Handbooks) and Quaker House publications, provide instructions for this. This article would benefit from a section detailing how this is done. This presents a challenge in doing so within the scope of Wikipedia's guidelines. Gmarmstrong (talk) 12:21, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

Military Selective Service Act's definition
This article would benefit from noting the Military Selective Service Act's definition of conscientious objection prior to mentioning the Department of Defense's definition. Gmarmstrong (talk) 12:31, 12 May 2017 (UTC)