I first enlisted in 61 at 18 and the guys I still remember, mostly, were the draftees. They were older, usually had some real work experience and generally had more sense than the rest of us. Twelve years later, after doing lots of growing up myself, I got to command a Basic Training Company at Ft. Knox in the same barracks area where I had taken mine. My first of six cycles had some of the last draftees. Call it beginners luck but I never again equaled the numbers of that cycle (fewest AWOLS, Range, PT, End of Cycle Test). Vietnam gave the Draft a bad name, and getting rid of it was a knee-jerk reaction and a cowardly act by Congress and the Administration. imo
William Techumseh Sherman wrote a nice litte essay on military recruiting. He noted that during the Civil War, they had tried every means possible: volunteers, bought substitutes (mercenaries), and conscripts.
I submit his sample size was larger than anything you or I could muster.
He preferred the volunteers.
I'm a Viet Nam vet and a draftee. If there was ever a problem between RA's and US it was mostly caused by THEIR attitude toward us, not our attitude toward the Army.
I spent 21 months in the Army and 15 of those 21 months in Viet Nam... I got an early out because I came home with less than 6 months to go in service. Though the military life was not for me, I don't regret one day of it.