The design of a national service program for youth is discussed. National service can be defined as a program in which all youth, or at least a large fraction, upon reaching some specific age are given the opportunity, and perhaps the obligation, to engage in organized public service--military service, community service, or public works--for a year or two, at relatively low pay. The common characteristic that distinguishes national service from more convenional youth employment programs is that some level of participation (perhaps only registration) would become the norm, if not for all youth, then at least for some large and well-defined subset of youth, such as all 18-year-old males. The key elements in the design of a national service program would involve: defining eligible participants, designating the program as voluntary or compulsory; determining the length of service and compensation for service; and deciding what services participants would perform. An option in a national service program could be job training, since American youth suffers a high unemployment rate relative to the general population. The form of service for which the most support has been generated is work on a variety of community service and public works projects. Small programs of full-time public service funded by ACTION, an independent federal agency devoted to voluntary service, are noted. The experience of the armed forces in shifting from the draft to an all volunteer force is also dscussed. (SW)