UNIVERSAL MILITARY TRAINING: A FIRST STEP
Doug Orsi April 17, 2025
It is essential therefore that universal training be instituted at the earliest possible moment to provide a reserve upon which we can draw if, unhappily, it should become necessary.
—Harry. S. Truman
In the waning days of World War II, there was a debate among the War and Navy Departments, Congress, the White House, and the national press over the need for universal military training (UMT). With the war in Europe over but fighting ongoing in the Pacific, the U.S. military jointly recommended the adoption of UMT to improve military readiness. Similarly, the new president, Harry S. Truman, advocated UMT as part of a program to strengthen “the Nation’s long-range security.” While often conflated with “universal military service,” UMT is significantly different and deserves a reexamination to prepare the U.S. for current security challenges posed by Russia and China. Current military and civilian leaders would do well to consider the nation’s initial unpreparedness to fight World War II. The United States should re-evaluate the potential benefits and drawbacks of UMT, and the steps needed today to increase our national preparedness and deterrence in an uncertain security environment.
What UMT is and is not.
The concept of UMT is not new. Shortly after the nation’s founding, General Henry Knox, the first Secretary of War, advocated the training of militia to serve as the wartime contingency to the small-standing army. The Militia Act of 1792 did not include this training requirement, which meant during wartime, volunteer militia entered active military service with little baseline training and caused delays in creating ready units. History has repeatedly shown that the call for volunteers and the creation of new units takes time and increases what we today call military strategic risk (or military risk) for the nation. In the early-twentieth century, many Americans were outspoken about the nation’s unpreparedness as they watched Europe embroiled in the Great War. The national outpouring of concern led to the Preparedness Movement and the creation of officer training camps in response to the possible involvement of the United States in the war. Since World War I, the U.S. form of universal military service has actually been “selective service,” a draft in which candidates are called up and screened, ensuring that those individuals who meet certain standards are conscripted into the military. This allows individuals with critical skills necessary for the economy and national defense to serve the nation through working in mining, industry, and other needed occupations.
https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/articles/umt/
