[1] The Draft was put into effect on January 28, 1988, and its unstated purpose was to establish a fighting force of soldiers with paranormal abilities.
The three wind up at the paranormal boot camp and become friends of sorts, but Harlan has a lot of trouble fitting in due to his relative physical weakness and is picked on by another trainee with the nickname Pitt Bull.
Lt. Remsen enters and analyzes Harlan's dreams as part of his mental evaluation, but, despite a lot of disturbing imagery, gives him a pass.
The Draft also impacted the world in other ways, as other countries made a more concerted effort to create their own paranormal armies.
Also, as the draft only applied to males, female paranormals were highly attractive to groups like the Central Intelligence Agency and offered very lucrative recruitment terms.