Should the United States implement a military draft?

Question

What are some pros and cons of this? I was just wondering. Thanks guys :)

Answer 1

I am a retired 20 year U.S. serviceman, and was on active duty during both Vietnam and Desert Storm.  I had occasion to work with draftees, and they were usually more trouble than they were worth.  That is why we went to an all volunteer force in the first place.  Modern warfare is too complex, and takes too much commitment on the part of our troops to leave to people who don't want to be there.  Conscription is a relic of a time when all being a soldier meant was holding formation and firing on order, anyone could do that, so the military was looked down upon a last resort for people who couldn't cut it in the civilian world, things have changed, and solutions for the modern world, military and civilian, need to reflect that.

Answer 2

No we should not implement a draft because we do not need one.

We have a strong volunteer military, and we do not need to impede others everday lives just for the h**l of it.

Answer 3

yes then the congress would not be so fast to go war if there kids in service

Answer 4

Pro- America gets essentially slave labor to spend more money/resources on war.

Con- Americans are stripped of their individual liberty to determine their own fate/career/way to die

Answer 5

Check the recruitment numbers... we're doing fine without a draft... and the poster above who said "almost everybody" is getting stop-lossed is either smoking something or he just believes everything hollywood throws at him...   It's just not true.  I'm a military mom, and I know lots of military mom's... and out of 10 military families I'm very close with, only 2 servicemen have been stop-lossed, both for short periods of time, and in both instances, they had specialized skills.  

Answer 6

yes.. everyone who votes for bush.. mcain.. or any other war monger should be immediatly enlisted.. the rest of us should focus on jobs and the economy.

Answer 7

Yes we should. Not only I am I old enough to not have to worry if they do start one, but the government is breaking contract with almost everyone in the military by extending their tour of duty for years past the end of it. Also, with Russia not listening to us when we tell them it's not cool to attack Georgia, this stupid war on another idea, (in several countries on the other side of the planet) and rapidly dwindling numbers of healthy active duty military available for homeland defense, a mandatory draft is the only fair way to have the US ready for a massive ground war on our soil. Can you imagine what would happen if China attacked us over here, while almost all of our forces are on the other side of the world? This government has stretched our military to the breaking point, and then some.

Answer 8

Wow..."there should be a draft, i won't have to worry, i'll be to old" aren't you just an awesome person...JERK.

PROS: I honestly don't see one. But, we can, I assume beef up the military.

CONS:

1. You will get people who are total scum bags who enlist, who don't want to be in the military, or are to stupid to be in the military.

2. Military speeding would go BONKERS (not saying that we don't need money...but if you have thousands and thousands of soldiers going into training on any given day...then its a bit much)

3. You will get anti-war people in who will try to sabotage the effort.

4. More desertion and people fleeing to Canada and mexico, or any forgien nation.

5. The feminist side of the house will throw a hissy fit, demanding women NOT be drafted, while the rest will be saying " a solider is a solider, regardless of gender" (which   rings true to me)

6.Last but not least...its just plain STUPID.

:)

Answer 9

Why would we need a draft ?

A draft DOES NOT increase the size of the military.

Only Congress can do that.

All a draft does, is allow the military to conscript enough people, to meet the manning levels if they do not get enough volunteers.

Since we already get enough volunteers to meet the recruiting goals 100 percent.

There is not much purpose for a draft.

Even during Vietnam, less than 7 percent of the draft eligible males, were actually drafted.

Thats all they needed to draft, because they still had so many volunteers.

Answer 10

We can't expand the size of our present army through conscription. That's why the Republicans have opposed the idea, and only a few Democrats have suggested it. The army as it's now constituted is full of very specialized technical experts. Those who go in for three years and are gone don't have much of a place, and the typical two-year enlistments of the Vietnam era are not long enough to train a man to be useful in today's army.

There seems to be a widespread misunderstanding of what a draft can and can't do, and the young especially seem to think the Republicans are more likely than the Democrats to get us into conscription, when the opposite is actually the case. Neither is there any connection between the potential adjustments of the size of the military and our overseas commitments.