Analyst's note: It is just my opinion, but this is a discussion that is long past due as we have far too many American's without any skin in the game. Our freedom and liberty can NOT be seen as something that someone else must fight for. This article raises the issue of national service realizing that there are valid arguments on both sides. Please consider the entire original article. Semper Fidelis.
"On June 30, 1973, Dwight Elliott Stone, a 24- year-old plumber’s assistant, became the last man conscripted into the United States Army. With the Viet Nam War winding down, President Richard Nixon ended the draft after years of complaints over its inequities. The all-volunteer force that followed has kept this nation supplied with manpower for almost 40 years, through almost 30 years of peace and ten years of war.
Ask any high ranking American military officer if they are in favor of reinstating a national military draft and the answer would probably be “No thank you.” The common thread is that there are enough challenges training and motivating troops in the face of extended deployments in two protracted wars. Dealing with some conscripts who don’t want to be there at all only adds to their already impressive workload. And it’s hard to argue with success. The nation’s all-volunteer service has given the United States perhaps the most motivated, effective and professional military in its 235-year history.
But after almost a decade of war, the services are stretched and worn thin. And there are officers, as well as those outside the military, who are reconsidering the question.
[....] the very nature of war evolving, America’s reliance on a World War II style infantry division is vastly antiquated with challenges coming from cyber-warfare, non-state sponsored terror as well as nuclear, chemical and biological threats.
There is no doubt that a new call for national service would be ultimately better for the country and its young people, giving them real life lessons in commitment and responsibility. It would undoubtedly make them better citizens. Would this be better for the military? Perhaps not. If we want to be fair, an equitable form of national service is the answer. If we want to sustain the quality of our military, this could be the worst option.
[....] we think it is important to start a national dialogue on this issue along with an honest assessment of the threats America faces and how it will rise to these challenges in the future. Bringing all Americans into this effort is important, if for no other reason than correcting the abject unfairness of the sacrifices made by a very small segment of our national body. [....]" of "LeMay: The Life and Wars of General Curtis LeMay" (Regnery, 2009).[....]"
