- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -

Rosetta Burke Named Selective Service State Director for New York

(Dec. 1, 1997) Ms. Rosetta Y. Burke has been named state director of the Selective Service System for New York. Gov. George E. Pataki nominated Burke for this presidential appointment which was signed recently by the National Director of the Selective Service System, Gil Coronado.

As state director for New York, Burke will provide liaison between Selective Service and the governor's office and will represent the governor and National Director on Selective Service matters in New York. Although young men are required to register with Selective Service at age 18, there is no plan to draft men into the military at present. There is, however, a need to maintain a national readiness posture in case of an emergency. It would require an act of Congress to reinstate inductions.

Burke has an extensive and varied personal background. She attended Harlem Hospital School of Nursing, Adelphi University, and the C.W. Post Center, Long Island University. Burke retired as Superintendent (Warden) from the New York State Department of Corrections in October 1992. She served with the Army Reserve from 1962 to 1992. Burke joined the New York Army National Guard in 1993, retiring as Major General in 1997, culminating a military career of over 35 years of service. She was the first female Assistant Adjutant General of New York State and of the Army National Guard. In February 1996, Burke received the Medgar Evers Courage Award from the NAACP of the Capital District of New York.

She is a member of the Reserve Officers Association, The Retired Officers Association, Association for the Military Surgeons of the United States, National Guard Association of the United States, Militia Association of New York, National Black Nurses Association, Black Nurses Association of the Capital District, Harlem Hospital School of Nursing Alumni, American Correctional Association of the United States of America, New York State Minorities in Criminal Justice, and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Burke is a part of a small but talented and dedicated group of individuals who are affiliated with the Selective Service System. New York is in Region I of the Selective Service System which also includes Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

For further information, contact: Ronald V. Meilstrup at (847) 688-4540.

SSS Release # 98-001R