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My army service was '62 to '65, deep in the draft years but just ahead of Vietnam. I enlisted just after the Cuban Missile crisis 60-day extension that actually caused a small number of people that enlisted just before me to not complete their service until after I got out.

College students and married men with children were deferred or exempted, so the draftees were mostly not well educated, or college dropouts like me. The draft then was exclusively army, for 2 years, and most draftees went to infantry after 8 weeks basic and 8 weeks advanced infantry training, plus some amount of specialist training if they happened to be chosen for it. That left a time in service of about one to 1 1/2 years for them.

That soldier would not be qualified for the highly technical army of today. Today's serviceman, even the infantry private, is a high school graduate, intelligent, literate, and trained far more extensively (and expensively) than ever before. While he might have joined for the training and benefits as a way to prepare for a civilian job, he serves for at least 3 years, and spends at least twice as much time training as he would have 35 years ago.

The officers are also better now than then. The job is far more technical, and the view, both up and down the chain of command, is much clearer than it used to be. Communication is extensive, and knowledge of the mission and the current situation at all levels is far superior. And if you can't adapt to this environment, you won't be around for long, because there are more than enough volunteers coming along.

We have the finest military that ever existed, and a draft would only lower that quality.