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Solicitation 90MC26Q0005: The July 2026 Request to Simulate the Whole Draft

Evidence rating: CONFIRMED. The solicitation's number, dates, requirements, and wording come from SAM.gov and contract trackers, and from two trade reporters who read it.

The document​

  • Title: "READINESS SIMULATION (RS) for Selective Service System"
  • Solicitation number: 90MC26Q0005
  • Posted: July 22, 2026, 6:25 p.m. Eastern (HigherGov); a second SAM.gov listing was published July 23 at 11:07 p.m. and went inactive August 29 (SAM.gov)
  • Questions due: 2 p.m. Eastern, July 28, 2026
  • Quotes due: 2 p.m. Eastern, August 14, 2026
  • Set aside for small businesses; industry code 541512 (computer systems design); product code DA01
  • Original listing: SAM.gov opportunity 4a10f8a1

The request opens: "This is a Request for Quote (RFQ) for narrative/price submissions from qualified vendors for a Readiness Simulation (RS) tool for the Selective Service System." It describes the agency as "responsible for maintaining a system that can rapidly furnish manpower to the Department of Defense during national emergencies" (CLEATUS summary).

The five jobs​

In the government's own numbered list, the tool shall "1) Evaluate staffing and resource requirements 2) Compare mobilization and policy scenarios 3) Assess the operational impact of surge conditions 4) Identify throughput risks, delays, and bottlenecks 5) Support executive planning and reporting obligations" (SAM.gov).

The six requirements​

The contractor shall deliver a simulation that "1) Models the full end-to-end SSS mobilization pipeline 2) Supports configurable scenarios 3) Provides decision-support analytics 4) Operates within an SSS-designated cloud environment 5) Uses anonymized aggregate data 6) Supports complete Government ownership and sustainment."

What it must model​

Military Times quoted the request in more detail. "Scenarios will encompass draft registration, selection, notification, delivery and classification. They will also cover the Alternative Service Program." Computer models will "represent MEPS [Military Entrance Processing Stations] throughput, no-shows, medical disqualification rates, claims processing, and ASP diversion" (Military Times, July 24, 2026). The goal is a system that "models the full end-to-end SSS mobilization pipeline, supports configurable scenarios, and provides decision-support analytics necessary for leadership, planners, and operators."

What each term means is on no-shows, claims, and objectors.

Why the agency says it needs it​

The agency wrote that it "currently relies on manual analysis, legacy modeling approaches, outdated assumptions, and historical datasets that do not fully reflect modern demographics, communications channels, throughput constraints, or operational readiness conditions." Contractors must run the model "recognizing that legacy SSS draft data may be outdated or unreliable" (Military Times).

Military Times opened its story this way: "Fearing that its new plans for the U.S. military draft pool won't work, the Selective Service System wants to create a computer simulation to test scenarios for its national mobilization."

"Communications channels" is worth pausing on. A draft agency whose models are built for mailed letters is asking for a model that reflects how young men actually communicate now.

"Policy" or "police"​

Military Times printed "comparing mobilization and police scenarios." Defense One and the government's own listing say "policy." The SAM.gov text is "Compare mobilization and policy scenarios."

The timing​

The request was posted on July 22, 2026, in the fifth month of the war on Iran. The next day, the agency's automatic-registration rule was withdrawn from White House review (the rule). Two weeks earlier, Responsible Statecraft had published the agency's January exercise, which gamed a draft of skilled workers in 30 days and a general draft of a million men (the exercise). The draft-resistance researcher Edward Hasbrouck describes this purchase as software "to carry out weekly simulations of activation of either a general draft or a “special-skills draft” such as the HCPDS but potentially also encompassing other occupations" (Hasbrouck, "Who would be drafted, and how?").

How it was reported​

  • Defense One and Washington Technology (Ross Wilkers, July 23, 2026): "The agency that keeps lists of draft-eligible men is looking for software to help simulate the personnel needs it would work to fill if a draft were reinstated." Washington Technology's deck: "If the military draft were to ever come back, this software would be used to quickly evaluate staffing and resource requirements" (Defense One; Washington Technology).
  • Military Times (Michael Peck, July 24): "Selective Service System wants to wargame the draft."
  • The Daily Caller News Foundation, via IJR (July 31): the agency "is currently pushing to modernize the mechanisms that could make the draft a reality," seeking "a simulation that aims to see what a U.S. draft could look like in a digital age" (IJR).
  • Disclose.tv's post on it drew about 5,500 likes (@disclosetv, July 24, 2026); Leading Report's drew about 291,000 views (@LeadingReport).

How far it spread, and the headlines that overshot it, are on how far the story reached.

Sources​

Status: Ross Wilkers, Michael Peck, and Edward Hasbrouck are alive.

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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