This chapter explores the redefinition of “youth,” their relationship with the federal government, and their role in national security in the 1930s. Due mainly to the widespread unemployment among young people in their late teens to mid-twenties, adults classified them as a distinct age group with economic, educational, and cultural problems. Many adults believed that the federal government should intervene in the “youth problem,” which prompted the establishment of New Deal programs for young people, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the National Youth Administration. The chapter also demonstrates, through an examination of debates over the introduction of military training to the CCC, as well as the transition of these agencies’ goals from unemployment relief to national defense in the late 1930s, how the Great Depression, often compared to war, was a significant turning point in the evolution of the relationship between youth, education, and national security.