The first national Selective Service was created by an Act of Congress on May 18, 1917 following the United States intervention into World War I. At the end of the war, the system was dismantled and all the records from the states were sent to the National Headquarters in Washington, D.C. In 1940, Public Law 783, 76th Congress, reactivated the system to provide for the common defense by increasing the personnel of the armed forces and providing for their training. The system continued in operation until March 31, 1947, when the Selective Service Record Law, Public Law 26, 80th Congress, repealed the Selective Service System and the Office of Selective Service Records was created in its place. This federal organization was charged with preserving and servicing all the Selective Service records for the country. In Wisconsin, all state employees of the Selective Service offices were relieved of their duties on March 31, 1947, except for the clerks at the State Headquarters (Madison office) who organized records shipments to federal depots until the end of May 1947. By the end of August 1947, all records had been transferred to the depots and activity ceased. In 1948, the Selective Service Act, Public Law 759, 80th Congress, repealed the Office of Selective Service Records and transferred its functions to the Selective Service System which the act re-established. Its functions were to register, induct, classify, and help keep track of men who were within established age limits to provide a constant man-power pool so that the United States would not be totally unprepared in the event of a war.
In the Madison office, there were four administrative positions: the State Director, who represented the governor in all Selective Service matters and was responsible for administering the Selective Service System throughout the state; the Deputy Director, who acted for the State Director in his absence; the Assistant State Director, who oversaw the staffs of all boards under the State Headquarters; and the Procurement Officer, who was in charge of all financial and government procurement matters. The state was divided into districts, with one State Appeal Board allotted per district. The purpose of the appeal boards was to handle appeals made by a registrant on a classification assigned by a local board. Each appeal board was composed of five members: one physician, one attorney, and one member each representing labor, industry, and agriculture. Beneath the appeal board level, every county within a district was required to have a minimum of one local board and one local board office; additional boards were authorized if the area's population warranted it. These local boards were responsible to the State Headquarters for the registration, classification, selection, and delivery of registrants within their area. Members of the local boards were appointed by the president upon recommendation of the governor. Wisconsin's local boards consisted of five members who were residents of the county where the board was situated and who had no affiliation with the armed forces. Auditors reported to the local boards and were charged with fulfilling quotas of registrants within their territories of operation.
On January 1, 1973, the Selective Service System's authorization to induct men expired, although men were still required to register on their eighteenth birthdays. On January 23, 1976, Byron V. Pepitone, then the National Selective Service Director, announced that registration for the Selective Service was ended for an indefinite period of time or until a major emergency occurred. In place of registration, people could enter the service either by enlisting in the new volunteer service or by joining Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) units on college campuses. After this announcement, all state-based service organizations closed down. All current records were sent to the federal depots since the National Headquarters was still functioning. Should the Selective Service be established once again or an emergency arise, then all state-based offices would reopen and their records would be returned.
