Posted on 02/11/2016 2:13:31 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
A bipartisan group of four congressmen introduced a bill Thursday that would abolish the Selective Service System, more commonly known as the draft.
"Maintaining the Selective Service simply makes no sense," Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), a former Marine, said in a written statement. "In 1973, the last draftee entered the Army and since then, despite the first Gulf War and subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon has never considered reinstituting the draft. Our all-volunteer military has given us the most elite fighting force in the history of this country."
Coffman introduced the bill with Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.).
The proposal comes at a time when some are calling for an expansion of the draft to include women because all combat jobs are now open to them.
A pair of House Republicans introduced a bill last week that would require women to register for the draft....
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
If the draft is ended, how can Democrats get voters if they don’t pardon draft dodgers?
Didn’t advocate anything - just made a comment. There is a difference.
I got out after three enlistments, and never had to register.
Of course, two years after I got out I had a stroke, so it would have become a moot issue anyway.
One physical fitness standard.
One height/weight standard.
One deployability standard.
This issue must be scaring the political elite to death.
I'm not saying there might be a time when America must call on its young people to serve, but registration might not be necessary any more.
The database already exists that contains the names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. of everyone of draftable age. With a little cross-checking you could exclude those with disabilities, medical issues, active college transcripts, children, etc.
Were you born before 1/1/1960?
There has been no draft since 1973 is correct. I do not wish to see the SSS go away, you never know.
Things were so bad during the late 60s when I enlisted they had to draft to fill positions in the Marines. I don’t think anyone ever thought that would happen. So while no one sees any need for a draft today, except the professional military people, does that mean we just do in the machinery to kick one off again? I think not especially given the rate we are hollowing out our active duty cadre now.
The draft may have served as the recruitment tool it was used as in those wars in which there were THOUSANDS thrown into the line of fire, in a effort to get the enemy to have a shortage of ammunition. Those cannons were hungry beasts, and had to be appeased to serve old men far from the battle zone.
Wars are fought with more practical objectives in mind now, to justify great expenditures by national legislatures, and to provide a propaganda outlet for the people back home to protest against. Now the objectives are much more nuanced, as actually WINNING a war is truly a burden beyond the capabilities of any rational and sane human being. < /sarcasm >
That didn't work out too well in the long run.
In reality it IS a huge waste of money.
Nothing but a giant mailing list, maintained by thousands of Federal employees with Federal pensions.
If a war broke out likely you could not find 7/8 of those guys anyhow. If you don’t have a culture where men want to defend their country in the first place, all else is useless.
Why?
Over 70% of men in the appropriate age group currently cannot qualify for service in any branch of the military. The number of females who can actually qualify is even lower. The biggest problem is that most are too fat and out of shape. Yet these liberal idiots still assume anyone can join the military and that the military would actually want them. They don’t... these days they only want the best. The “draft” is just something tossed around by people like those in the media who don’t know much about today’s military.
No.
But I had twelve years in.
There is no draft.
Carter’s Selective Service law only included those men born after December 31st of 1959, which is why you didn’t have to register. I was born 34 days after the cutoff.
There is registration and those men who do not register are not eligible for many federal benefits.
No.
The biggest problem is the design of the human knee joint, and knee weaknesses have caused the bulk of 4F classifications and failures to complete boot camp since Black Jack Pershing instituted the boot camp system during the Great War.
I get that it is fun to jeer at lazy fat people, but most people have never been physically capable of meeting service requirements.
As a personnel clerk in the Army I saw the papers of many draftees like me. We volunteerd for the draft.
The draft needs to be made volunteer. Patriots could register and say: I dont want to go active, or even National Guard, at this time. But I will go if really needed. Such volunteers would not get paid. They could get recognition for physical training aka fitness center. they could get recognition for weapons training, for a variety of skills including hi-tech skills the military needs. When the military does have a real need, it could more quickly identify these volunteers from its register, its database.
But it would be voluntary. And little cost to the taxpayer compared to the benefit.
From a pure Constitutional point of view, the fact that a mere act/law/statute enabling conscription even exists shatters every other argument we can muster about privacy, government intrusion, private property, and Constitutional rights.
Amendments are required to grant the FedGov non-enumerated powers such as the authority to regulate alcohol or establish an income tax on individuals but for something as extreme as taking your 18-year old and shoving him into some 3rd world hellhole against his will it's all just peachy ( It'll be a good experience for him! ). We don't need no stinking Amendment. How can anyone possibly question the FedGov's ability to control healthcare or firearms or speech but at the same time support involuntary servitude? This requires industrial strength cognitive dissonance.
Nevermind the fact that our 18-year olds these days are so immature compared to 100 or 60 years ago, but who would really want some random punk forced against his will to be watching your soldier or Marine son's back?
This is one of the worst legacies of the Civil War, the Congressional parallel to Presidential habeas corpus revocation. And if you think about it, our wars have caused the most severe destruction of our Constitution and Declaration. World War I saw muzzling of the people and the press, World War II still includes income withholding. No-one blinks an eye even after all these years. God help us.
I know, but there is no draft. The title said draft.
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