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 ...
After the Vietnam War (after which the engineers admitted it was a mistake and the next president pardoned the draft-dodgers), this country lacks the moral authority to draft anyone for a military operation. Anyone who would answer a draft call-up today, to fight in some foreign war a half a world away while our own borders are unprotected, needs a mental health check.
We have plenty of people living lives of leisure on the taxpayers’ dime; draft them.
End it, raise the voting age to 30.
If Coffman thinks we can fight anything other than a route with the volunteer military he is deluding himself. There will be no volunteers to fight a Korea, World War II or Vietnam style ground war against a tough, numerous enemy. Coffman needs to talk to somebody who fought in Tet or Chosin.
I’ve said for years that we’ll never see another military draft in this country. A country run by inside-the-Beltway @ssholes whose own families always stay out of harm’s way has no moral authority to draft anyone.
As an aside, I think that this draft registration tempest may begin to amount to something. If it does, my guess is that Cruz is on the right side of the GOP base and the rest of the folks on the wrong side. Sadly, Tim would have so much more credibility had he himself put a few year in uniform.
Stupid idea.
If it becomes necessary to mobilize for war (either before or after the fact), already knowing basic information about the pool of eligible citizens and resident aliens (yes, they are eligible for the draft, as well)and having an established system for them to be called into service in an orderly manner will be an important first step. If we disband the Selective Service and this need arises in the future, we would simply have to rebuild it all over again.
The former Marine Congressman fronting this legislation probably doesn’t appreciate the recruiting difficulties that would be experienced supporting a very rapid expansion of the armed forces using voluntary enlistment alone. He also probably isn’t aware that the proudly volunteer Marine Corps accepted draftees during WWII, Korea, and even Vietnam.
Today’s armed forces are small compared to those required to fight a major world war. For some perspective, consider that the present Marine Corps active forces are about 2 1/2 MEFs (division/wing/logistics group teams). During World Ward II, active Marine Corps forces were the equivalent of 6 MEFs. The US Navy presently has 233 commissioned ships. During WWII, it had over 1200. During WWII, the US Army numbered 51 infantry and armored divisions in the European Theater alone. The Eight Air Force of “12 O’clock High” fame had approximately 100 heavy bomber squadrons in it. The total US armed forces during WWII numbered some 14 million persons, if I recall the figures correctly. The current armed forces number approximately 1.4 million active and 800 thousand reserve.
I am not suggesting that the next major world war will require the force densities suggested by WWII order of battle numbers. But, if this future war goes on long enough and doesn’t go nuclear, a substantial mobilization will be required once existing regular forces begin experiencing significant casualties and other loses. Armed forces recruiters struggle to fill current force structure requirements. There is simply no way they could find enough qualified persons to voluntarily fill out a force structure that had to be two, three, or more times as large and filled FAST.
Maybe Reagan realized he was wrong. He quietly did the right thing often, such as implementing a ‘we ask, don’t join’ policy for homosexuals in the military and also ending sex-integrated basic training in the army. Like Rome at the beginning of her decline, there are an increasing number of young men..or males I guess to be more accurate, who not only are unwilling to serve in uniform in any capacity but who are perfectly happy watching young women their age deploy while they stay at home. Personally I think it speaks to their character, but that’s just me.
You beat me to it, well put.
...or they could be real patriotic young men and join up to serve in uniform; there are ten options, they can pick one.
...make that twelve.
See Post 46.
"Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." - Lyceum Address
More true now than ever.
I was born in sixty-two. But I was already enlisted by the time Carter reinstated the draft.
Eight years or more of enlisted service gets you classified as 4-A, and I was also twenty eight years old by the time I got out.
I wasn’t required to register when I got out, but I had served as a 2884, a 2171, and an air force 30451. If there were an emergency great enough and techs were critical they might have over ridden the 4-A exemtions, but in late ‘91 with the Soviets newly collapsed they weren’t tracking us and we weren’t called upon to register if our MSO was long since filled.
The Russian Army and the Chinese PLA are mass conscript armies. Do not foresee them changing their conscription policies any time in the near future.
I am sure that historically you are correct as far as “4F classifications”, but that is not what I am talking about. By far the largest disqualifying problem for young people who do not qualify for military service these days is that they are too fat. I do not find this to be funny in any way at all... and my intention is not to jeer at fat people... This is just a sad fact about the youth of America.
http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-why-most-americans-cant-join-the-military-2015-9
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.