There has been a lot of talk recently about bringing back the draft. I am certainly not opposed to it, but what would the reaction be? I know I come from a generation with very little sense of duty, discipline, or honor. Would forced enlistment help or hurt the military? Would it strengthen the country as a whole or would it expose our weaknesses?
Its nothing more than a political statement by an idiot known as Charles Wrangell. We don't need more troops, what we need is more and better intelligence agents around the world for starters. We might need more fighter pilots and trained soldiers in technology and equipment but I don't really think there is a need for many more combat troops. Anyway Charles Wrangell voted against his bill last time and no way the anti-military coalition known as the Democrats would ever pass this. My understanding of this bill that Wrangell was pushing was about 2 million including military and civil service which a lot of these positions have been out dated by technology. Why do you need so many troops like in Vietnam when you have drones and other means of blowing things up and killing people.
It depends. If we can continue to practice the American War of War featuring our overwhelming superiority in airpower and seapower, then we can probably get by with a volunteer army big enough for small wars. But Iraq has exposed us to some cold hard facts about our capability to deploy and support a field army overseas. The army is a fraction of the size of the Gulf War Army which as a fraction of the size of the Cold War/Vietnam War Army, which was a fraction of the size of our World War II Army. John McCain says that we must either send the 500,000 troops needed to secure the country or get out. The problem is that we don't have the capabiity to put that size of Army into the field any more. Not at that distance. Not for an indefinite stay. I think we should stick too Airpower/Seapower wars and make more limited use of ground forces which will be lighter, more lethal, and more mobile. But the chances of us needing to get into another major ground war in the Middle East or in Korea are high. Very quickly, in such a war, we would need to institute a draft to produce the forces needed to win it. It's all a matter of how soon we can see the trouble coming. We started the draft two years before World War II started and we were able to fight with a large body of trained troops early in the war. But warfare has changed and modern wars are often "come as you are". Right now we couldn't stop a North Korean ground invasion with our ground forces. We can stop it with tactical nuclear weapons, as has long been the plan, but that might now doom our ally Japan to nuclear retaliation. There are benefits to an an all-volunteer force. It is manned by people who really want to be there, many of whom are long-term enlistees. It is a professional standing army. But there are also benefits to a drafted army as was recognized by WWII generals. General Marshall believed that the troops in the draftee divisions were superior to the old Army reserve/national guard divisions and to many of the regular Army divisions. He further thought that the OCS officers coming out of the draftee ranks were superior officers to the ROTC-trained officers of the activated army reserve. The peacetime army was riddled with officers and NCO's who got their positions from influence rather than capabilities. The draft takes recruits from every occupation, every educational level, and every economic class. Once the troublemakers and other unfit personnel are eliminated, the draft produces a better quality, higher educated recruit with a broader range of useful skills than a volunteeer army produces. But it takes time to train and equip a large draftee army which is wasteful during peacetime. Nevertheless it must be done before a major war comes along that requires it. Sooner or later the draft will be needed again. It's a matter of how fortunate we will be to spot the need before the crisis arrives. When the generals start asking for the return of the draft, we should pay careful attention.
We need the draft to stay in April. After the bowl games and the post season Senior Bowl, North/South game, etc., the players need some time to shape up before the combine.
Charlie is an idiot but he has one thing right. There are too many soldiers from a handful of states (including Louisiana) and far too few from other states. California has 30 million residents (10% of the population) but do they have 10% of the soldiers in Iraq? I bet they have more than 10% of all federal contracts. Until Massachusetts sends their fair share of soldiers, I don't believe dumbasses like Kennedy and Kerry should have any voice regarding the military. Pull your share or shut the hell up! We should have a draft! Everyone from the ACLU, NOW, PETA, NAACP, DNC, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, AP, PAC-10, Notre Dame, HUD, IRS, LULAC, Oprah, Dr. Phil, Ellen, The View, Hollywood, Michael Moore, and OJ should be the first in line!
Would the draft be intended to go to war to protect the US or would we just insert them in a civil war?
The draft idea is nothing more than an anti-Iraq war vote. The same people who voted for it and now are against it crowd. Its funny how Wrangell complains about the rich and the presidents family not serving in the military, another form of discrimination of blacks and other minorities I suppose? I guess he hasn't figured out that you can't have equal representation when you have a volunteer force? Anyway the Anti-Iraq people must love these days in Iraq. Its seems to be everything that they predicted. Bush has really let me down, don't know what happened but he is no leader. Its like he quit doing his job a few years ago!
Nonsense. This is an idea of Rangel's that he has been pushing for years. To him its about disproportionate numbers of minorities in the army. What are you talking about? Do you mean the people who were lied to and were mislead have reconsidered? You bet they have. Actually we are disgusted that it has taken so long for the Bush apologists to come around to reality. There is nothing to love about the Iraq debacle. I tried to warn you.
