The end of conscription in 1973 has proved to be a moral disaster.

[rangerrebew]

September 16, 2016, 12:15 am

The end of conscription in 1973 has proved to be a moral disaster.

“I wouldn’t want to serve with anyone who isn’t a volunteer.” This self-congratulatory platitude has been expressed to me personally, and I’ve seen it written in commentary. From where I stand, it’s one of the saddest of the many lamentable results of the end of conscription in 1973.

Dude, do you know how insulting and ignorant this is? It disrespects not only the millions of draftees who served honorably, tens of thousands with distinction, but also all of us who enlisted in an environment of conscription. If you believe this bilge, you’ve been had. You’ve fallen for a scam. You’re the victim of crude propaganda. You accept what’s transparently false and contradicted by recent history because it makes you feel special. And it doesn’t say much for your intelligence.

Educate yourself. It’s not that hard. You can start by reading the Medal of Honor citations of draftees, 32 from the Vietnam War alone. Many awards were posthumous. Now tell me you wouldn’t want to serve with those men. Come on. Look me in the eye and say that.

http://spectator.org/disrespecting-draftees/

[Maj. Bill Martin]

September 16, 2016, 12:15 am

The end of conscription in 1973 has proved to be a moral disaster.

“I wouldn’t want to serve with anyone who isn’t a volunteer.” This self-congratulatory platitude has been expressed to me personally, and I’ve seen it written in commentary. From where I stand, it’s one of the saddest of the many lamentable results of the end of conscription in 1973.

Dude, do you know how insulting and ignorant this is? It disrespects not only the millions of draftees who served honorably, tens of thousands with distinction, but also all of us who enlisted in an environment of conscription. If you believe this bilge, you’ve been had. You’ve fallen for a scam. You’re the victim of crude propaganda. You accept what’s transparently false and contradicted by recent history because it makes you feel special. And it doesn’t say much for your intelligence.

Educate yourself. It’s not that hard. You can start by reading the Medal of Honor citations of draftees, 32 from the Vietnam War alone. Many awards were posthumous. Now tell me you wouldn’t want to serve with those men. Come on. Look me in the eye and say that.

http://spectator.org/disrespecting-draftees/

Reinstituting conscription would be a horrible idea all around.

The author is not considering that WWII was a time when our nation was openly attacked, and support for fighting back was almost universal.  We were also fielding military forces of well over ten million men, so virtually all healthy, military age men were serving at the same time.  Most draftees served more or less willingly.

The weakness of the conscription force was revealed in Vietnam, where too high a percentage of troops who absolutely did not want to be there adversely impacted the overall force.  Sure, there were plenty of enlistees, and also plenty of draftees who served well also.  But too many did not.

The vast majority of Vietnam-era officers I knew in the 80's greatly favored the volunteer force over conscription.  The starting point for that discussion is the recognition that right now, we essentially have enough volunteers to meet our desired force level.  So exactly where are we going to put those millions of draftees each year?

There are also huge practical issues with universal conscription that make it an absolutely terrible idea in terms of fielding the most capable military possible.

[Idaho_Cowboy]

Reinstituting conscription would be a horrible idea all around.

The author is not considering that WWII was a time when our nation was openly attacked, and support for fighting back was almost universal.  We were also fielding military forces of well over ten million men, so virtually all healthy, military age men were serving at the same time.  Most draftees served more or less willingly.

The weakness of the conscription force was revealed in Vietnam, where too high a percentage of troops who absolutely did not want to be there adversely impacted the overall force.  Sure, there were plenty of enlistees, and also plenty of draftees who served well also.  But too many did not.

The vast majority of Vietnam-era officers I knew in the 80's greatly favored the volunteer force over conscription.  The starting point for that discussion is the recognition that right now, we essentially have enough volunteers to meet our desired force level.  So exactly where are we going to put those millions of draftees each year?

There are also huge practical issues with universal conscription that make it an absolutely terrible idea in terms of fielding the most capable military possible.

Let's not forget that without a major war the government doesn't have the right to confiscate labor hours of the citizens.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Let's not forget that without a major war the government doesn't have the right to confiscate labor hours of the citizens.

Amen.  The usual response to "we already have enough voluntary recruits" is to advocate for universal "national service".  Government-slavery based on a moral principle that service to the government should be compelled for all.

I personally think that's an idea justifying violent resistance, and I don't say that about many things.