>I contacted the Selective Service via email, and the respondent from them claimed that the part which appears to be a serial number is just a random number. But that doesn’t make much sense - that would be inconsistent with most other government number issuing systems that I am aware of.
Indeed, it’s odd.
Did you mention WHY you e-mailed? Or phrase it as a general information request?
From Hughes, Janice Fri Aug 15 07:13:20 2008 Return-Path: Received: from 199.248.197.171 (EHLO trendssvr.sss.gov) (199.248.197.171) by XXXXXXX with SMTP; Fri, 15 Aug 2008 07:13:21 -0700 Received: from NHQXCHANGE2.sss.gov ([199.254.201.163]) by trendssvr.sss.gov with InterScan Messaging Security Suite; Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:13:20 -0400 Subject: RE: Question about Selective Service Numbers Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:13:20 -0400 Thread-Topic: Question about Selective Service Numbers Priority: Urgent Importance: high From: "Hughes, Janice" Dear Sir: The latest Registration Numbers, such as you listed below, start with the man’s year of birth (89-, 90-, etc.). However, the other number have no significance and are random. Sincerely, Janice L. Hughes Public & Intergovernmental Affairs Selective Service System From: XXXXX Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 3:09 PM To: Information Subject: Question about Selective Service Numbers Hi! Can you help me? I noticed that the Selective service numbers have changed coding. Back in the sixties and earlier it used to be as follows:XX-YYY-ZZ-NN..N XX — code for state (or district/territory) issued YYY — local board number ZZ — year of birth NN..N -- the registration number, the chronological sequence number that the registration was accepted at the local board But the new codes I have seen look like this: ZZ-NNNNNNN-1 Where ZZ seems to be the year of birth. My questions are: When did the format change? Are the first two digits of the new numbers the year of birth? Is there any coding of board number or state or serial number in the new number? Is the seven digit middle part (or part of that middle part) a chronological sequence number? If there is a sequence number, what are the ranges by year for sequence numbers issued in that year? Thanks!