Discussing the related problems of military recruitment and civilian youth unemployment and inadequate education and training, this paper is intended to provide a framework for the consideration and analysis of alternative approaches to these problems. Without offering recommendations, the paper also reports the effects of three prototypical National Service program options which differ in terms of the quantity and type of youth participation, the extent of integration of current programs, and the degree of coercion to serve imposed on youth. Prefaced by a summary of the study, the paper is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the plan of the paper. Military enlistment problems and policies are discussed in chapter 2. Youth problems and programs are discussed in chapter 3. The pattern of competition for youth and the impact of it on ongoing demographic and programmatic changes are presented in chapter 4. In chapter 5, the alternative National Service concepts and options are discussed. Also in this chapter the three alternative prototypical programs (small targeted voluntary, broad-based voluntary, and broad-based mandatory) are described in detail. Finally, in chapter 6 the costs and effects of these three programs are presented. The impact on military enlistment, youth unemployment, education and training, and youth service are also discussed for each option; and the effects of the alternatives on competition and coordination among programs are estimated. Appendixes include procedures and assumptions used to estimate costs of the national service options. (BM)