The United States is home to the world’s strongest military, and at this date and time, they are in no need of conscription. The United States has never had a positive history when it comes to drafting eligible citizens into the Armed Forces. Since Colonial times, especially the Revolutionary War, conscription has always been known as a negative term, especially in the time during and around the Vietnam war.
Equality, as far as race, gender, and sexual attraction are all in high dispute at this day in age. If the Armed Forces were to have a draft, how would these play out in the draft, and how would the media and the majority of the United States’ population react? Economic factors, such as government budget, as well as the positive or negative standing of the economy are extremely important, regarding whether a draft is possible or not.
Other contributing factors towards why or why not the Unites States should host a draft are the high amount of patriotism shown in the United States, especially regarding military service, and requirements such as physical, mental and academic state are all important in how a draft would play out, and how unnecessary it truly would be. No branch of the United States Armed Forces is in need of conscription due to strong patriotism, a low need for soldiers, equality in a draft situation, economic factors, and the need to keep a positive media reputation.
The media scrutiny the United States Military and Armed Forces received in it’s most recent war engagements, such as the Vietnam War and World War II, was an unexplainable amount. American Justice states “Throughout the years, various deferments and exemptions have existed, but they were never met with the level of incendiary reaction that the Vietnam years brought. the violent antimilitarism of the era is best understood as a reaction against a very unpopular war. ” (P. 186).
The Vietnam war was one of the darkest time for the United States, both inside and outside of the country. It brought protest, rioting, and began to tear apart the country. The negative light that was brought upon the military and government during this time was unbearable. When the draft was initiated, it only made matters worse, and the media took full advantage of this. The media constantly bombarded the military both inside and outside the country with negative news and violent live broadcast of the war.
Although the coverage and release of live film was limited, highly regulated, and was required to pass through many waves of censoring and clearing before released, it still helped pass along the negative image the news and broadcasting services desired. In today’s war, because the media can film and broadcast live footage of the war with almost no boundary, it is essential that the military take extreme caution in what it involves itself in. The Vietnam war was the first of it’s kind, as far as media/news goes, as it was the first war in which live footage of the war was played on national and worldwide television.
The image this brought upon the United States’ military and government was extremely negative. When the draft began during the war, many men who became eligible to be drafted took there own lives, or made it so that they were ineligible to be drafted in prevention of being involved with the war. The National Bureau of Economic Researching published an article stating “Between 1974 and 1983, Hearst et Al. found that draft eligible Vietnam era men living in California and Pennsylvania experienced significantly higher mortality rates than draft ineligible – particularly from suicide and motor vehicle accidents. (Par. 8). Recently, the military has not received a positive image due to it’s most current involvement in the countries of Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. Bringing about a draft at this time would bring upon a large negative image upon the U. S. Armed Forces. The negative image that the media and new stations put on the war became so negative, men began to take their own lives to prevent being drafted into the war. With the suicide rate at an extreme high in the current time, bringing on a draft in a time when the military’s image isn’t particularly positive would most likely result in a similar fashion.
An enlarged suicide rate, mostly in those who are completely draft eligible. In recent years, equality regarding race, gender, and sexual orientation has been one of the most publicized controversies in the United States. In the draft during the Vietnam war, congress voted against drafting women. Kenneth Last, in The Supreme Court A to Z: Second Edition, proclaims “Several men challenged Congress’s decision to require registration of men but not women, claiming that the policy was unconstitutional sex discrimination.
But the Supreme Court in Rostker vs. Goldberg (1981) upheld the exclusion of women in a 6-3 decision. ” (P. 409-410). The exclusion of women in the draft was sensible at the time, but because women have now won the right to fight with the men on the front lines would become a large controversy whether or not to include them in conscription. Women were allowed to serve in the Armed Forces during the war, but had to enlist voluntarily. Because the draft was seen unfairly towards the time of the U. S. ‘s withdrawal from the war, the draft was terminated.
USA Today published an article, saying “The feeling that the draft was not applied equally, combined with widespread unhappiness with the war, led to increased calls to end the draft which the selective service did in 1973. ” (Par. 13). The United States is in a similar, but much lesser situation than that of the Vietnam war. With such a decently sized portion of the U. S. population unhappy with today’s war, and many seeing how unfair it was not allowing women to serve on the front lines, bringing on a draft would create a large havoc in the media and news, bringing a dark cloud over the United States’ armed forces.
Patriotism is one of the biggest drives in the country, coming from anything between a sports championship, the olympics, and the military. July 4th, one of the nation’s largest holidays, is one of the most patriotic days, if not the most, in the United States’ calendar year. This is also on day in the U. S. ‘s calendar year that the Armed Forces is widely supported by most, if not all citizens of the United States. The military, especially when in combat, brings a sense of community and pride among the country.
Lymari Morales reported in her article published on Gallup mentioned “That 62% of the United States believes that the military, especially serving in it, can bring among the most of a person’s patriotism. ” (Par. 1). Service in the Armed Forces of the United States is completely voluntary. It is only those, or most of those, who are patriotic and love their country that serve their country. The men and women that serve and protect the United States take pride in their work and truly love their country, the one in which they keep and provide freedom for.
With the amount of men and women that serve the United States out of pure patriotism and love for their country, it is in no need of conscription. It is fully functional and the most dominant military force in the world with the men and women is has been provided with. The United States is partially fueled by patriotism, and the amount it currently has is beyond great. With the amount of patriotism we have, and the added amount we would receive if a larger war broke out, the number of citizens that would join the military would be exceptional, and would put us in a position in which we would be in no need of a draft.
Recently, the United States had a fall in economy, but thankfully it has once again begun to rise. On the other hand, the government has had to make multiple budget cuts to make the budget line. Beginning a draft would introduce a higher budget for the military, says Christopher John “With a draft, a larger total force would be needed because draftees serve a shorter initial enlistment period that today’s volunteers.
Therefor, a larger fraction would not be involved in overhead ctivities such as training, supervising less-experienced personnel, and traveling to a first assignment, The GAO estimated these activities would add more than four billion per year (in 2003 dollars) to the defense budget [alone]. ” At this time, with such a tight budget and not enough room for an additional four billion dollars plus, the U. S. would not be able to hold a sufficient draft without highly tampering the value of the dollar. With the economy on the rise, the government would also be against tampering with the value of the dollar, in fear of creating an economic collapse or dip.
The United States has no business at this point in time installing a draft for the military due to low need of troops and a rising economy. One of the biggest reasons that the United States should not be in favor of a draft at this time is the amount of requirements and amount of time it takes to put citizens through basic training. Every citizen must have a high school diploma or GED at the minimum, and those who enlist or sign a ROTC contract must take several military standardized tests that will help the military place them in a certain MOS (Military Occupation Specialty).
For some MOS’s, you must receive a certain score to qualify for that specific MOS. Glenn Reynold, the writer of Draft Women? Why Not? , an article on USA Today, declares “lam against the draft in general, despite people trying to bring it back; Robert Heinlein once said, a nation that cannot defend itself without conscription will not survive. ” (Par. 2). Because of all the registration, testing and requirements, it makes the effect of the draft nearly impossible to establish immediately.
The average time of basic training that one must endure in the armed forces in the United States is 3 months. This puts almost a 4 month delay of effect on the draft, with the first wave of eligible members who are drafted. In an article released by CQ Researcher, it comments “Anti-sentiment is recognized on the committee bill to the extent of a proviso stating that “any person between the ages of 18 and 38 shall be afforded an opportunity voluntarily to enlist and be included unto the land r naval forces of the Unites States for the training and service prescribed for those drafted. ” (Par. 43). Citizens are not required by law to serve in the military, but those who voluntarily enlist must meet certain requirements, first being in the age range of 18-38.
In the military, all is earned, nothing given. If a draft were to occur, it would have to severely cut down on the requirements and cut down on the time those who were drafted would be in basic training. This would make things sticky for the U. S. knowing they would be putting less experienced, less trained and much less qualified soldiers on the battlefield. Soldiers would not necessarily be put into the specific MOS they would prefer to be, or best suited for. This would make think much harder for the military, and they would be much better off without the draft. The United States is home to one of the world’s strongest and most organized military. The necessity for a military draft in the U. S. is completely unnecessary and would not be in the best interest for the United States.
It’s military already has a large size in numbers, has reached nearly its cap in the national budget, must maintain a positive light in the media both in the U. S. , and around the globe, and must maintain it’s high sense of patriotism both inside and out of the branches of the armed services. For all of these reasons, and more, no branch of the United States Armed Forces is in need of conscription due to strong patriotism, a low need for soldiers, equality in a draft situation, economic factors, and the need to keep a positive media reputation.
