For those who don't know, Ken is planning to start trucking school soon. (It's in the newsletter, but I don't know if those are mailed out yet.) We were told that he could get a few thousand dollars in federal financial aid because he's a displaced worker, so he's been working for over a month on doing all the paperwork and satisfying the requirements for the scholarship. Today was supposed to be the day that he finally got everything wrapped up so he could start school on October 20th. The counselor was handing him stuff to sign... and then he wanted Ken's Selective Service ID number. Uh-oh. Ken was discharged from the Navy for medical reasons when he was 16, so he never signed up for the Selective Service!
The good news is that military service is a valid excuse for not having the ID number (and there aren't many valid excuses), so Ken can still get the financial aid. The bad news is that he has to send a bunch of paperwork to the Selective Service to get them to send him a letter saying that they accept his excuse, and unless we can get that letter within a few days, Ken will have to put off school for another month.
If Ken had never been in the Navy, he would be ineligible for federal financial aid for the rest of his life and there would be nothing he could do about it. If you're born in 1960 or later and you're an adult male, you're supposed to have the Selective Service ID number. You can only register with the Selective Service between ages 18 and 26, so there's no way to "repent" when you're older and get the ID number. To all my male cousins, make sure you register or the government will be mad at you for the rest of your life!
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My dad told me that Garth was wondering about this, so I'll clarify. Ken thought that he was 16 when he joined the Navy, but when we looked at his papers again it turns out that he was 17. (16 might be too young to join.)
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