At one time, we had citizen soldiers, and, while considered somewhat expendable, they were highly valued. Today we have a “soldier class” that is considered (by their political masters) to be assets to use and discard as needed.
An all volunteer force is quickly treated as a mercenary force by their CIC, as we are seeing today.
BTW, the Airforce has wanted to get the “man out of the cockpit” since the 60s. Our adversaries are developing drone fighting vehicles, we need to quit fighting the last war and do the same.
“At one time, we had citizen soldiers, and, while considered somewhat expendable, they were highly valued. Today we have a “soldier class” that is considered (by their political masters) to be assets to use and discard as needed.”
I think it’s just the opposite; when there was the military draft, the Army didn’t bear the full cost of its manpower and thus treated it as inexpensive and expendable. With the volunteer service, the military sees the full cost of each recruit, and views him or her as a valuable asset that would be costly to replace.