The poll of 600 likely voters statewide was taken between Oct. 13 and Oct. 18 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

"I think we have enough people in the armed services to handle whatever we are dealing with," said Mari Gabrielson, 61, of Kailua, whose husband served with the Marine Corps in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. "That isn't to say that if there was truly a war in the magnitude of World War II that we wouldn't need to draft."

Discussions of a possible draft have been fueled by concerns that the all-volunteer military is stretched too thin, with about 130,000 troops in Iraq and another 17,000 in Afghanistan. More than 15,000 soldiers and Marines from Hawai'i are either deployed for the two wars, or preparing for deployment, and talk about a draft seems to hit closer to home.

Nationally, military enlistments have been extended. National Guard and Reserve members are serving numerous tours overseas, and recruiters are having trouble meeting their goals.

Still, the all-volunteer military has 1.4 million men and women in uniform, with a pool of hundreds of thousands of National Guard and Reserve members also available. Congress also recently voted to increase the military by 20,000 troops.

"I cannot foresee any scenario where ... a draft would be necessary," said William Carr, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy.

The Selective Service System — which would conduct a draft under orders from Congress — registers all men, ages 18 to 26, for the draft.

The draft has been a hot political issue during the presidential campaign. Democratic nominee John Kerry has said there is "great potential" for a draft because troops are overextended. He has warned that President Bush could seek a draft in a second term.

Bush has said flatly there will not be a draft and has complained that Democrats are trading on people's fears.

Joanne Fichtman, 70, of Honolulu, said that any draft talk is ridiculous.

"That is just silly," she said. "There isn't going to be a draft. That is just fear mongering."

Carr said about 30,000 troops are being retrained to fill frontline positions. For other critical shortfalls in positions such as linguists, medical workers and computer network engineers, the Pentagon is pursuing ways to attract civilian contractors. "It's more promising and cost-effective than a draft," Carr said.

Some defense experts say even considering a broad military draft reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of modern warfare.

Anthony Cordesman, a senior analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that if another conflict were to emerge, the U.S. military would use technology to confront the threat, not necessarily manpower. Airpower and precision-strike weapons, among other means, would be used to destroy an enemy's forces.

He said today's military requires highly skilled people, who could fill high-tech military jobs. Also, he said a conscripted military would take too long to assemble and train.

At a minimum, it would take 193 days to get the first draftee to a training center, according to Selective Service System records. Then it could take at least another 130 days to train a draftee to fill some of the most basic jobs in the military.

"The draft is not a magic wand," Cordesman said.

It is, however, an insurance policy, according to Jack Martin, acting director of the Selective Service System.

"We look at the world situation ... and we need to be ready," Martin said. "Deep down in everybody's heart, they know we should be here."

But Garrett Hashimoto, 59, of Honolulu was unconvinced.