Prompt Military Service: An Obligation or a Choice?

Argument 1: Fight for Your Right to Be Free: Every American Should Be Required to Serve in the Military

1 Are you 18-25 and male? If so, the law mandates1 that you register with the government for military service. Registering doesn’t mean that you have to actually fight in the military—or even join it. This is because mandatory military conscription2 —known commonly as “the draft”—ended in 1973, when America removed the service requirement and created an all-volunteer army. Now, during these globally troubled times, it’s time for the U.S. government to reinstate the draft. Having everyone serve in the armed forces will bring Americans together, despite our individual political views and personal agendas, as we fight together to ensure freedom of the world’s citizens. 2 Some people believe that the voluntary army is sufficient and therefore we do not need every American to serve in the military. This is not an exceptional argument. It is mediocre3 at best. A volunteer army relies ​ on people making the choice to join the army; if people stop volunteering, our country will be left unprotected. Why leave our national safety up to chance? 3 First, compulsory national service would strengthen American citizenship. During World War I and II especially, Americans took pride in serving their country by fighting for it. Some boys even lied about their ages, claiming they were older than they were, so they could enlist early! These stalwart men (and some ​ ​ women) helped us win freedom at home as well as abroad. Few people dispute that our current system of using a volunteer army has been a success, as its soldiers are highly trained and skilled. Nonetheless, in making military service optional for American men, a gulf has now formed between professional soldiers and civilians. In a sharp contrast to the past, most of today’s leaders have never served in the military—nor have their children. Writing in US News & World Report, William A. Galston, a former adviser ​ to President Clinton, stated, “For most of us, defending our country is something we watch on television. ​ Little in the lives of young Americans helps them understand that citizenship is more than a list of rights to which they are entitled.” 4 Second, reinstating compulsory military service is only fair. As Americans, we all share in our freedoms. Isn’t it only just that we all shoulder the obligations to uphold those freedoms? National defense should be a citizenship duty, with risks shared equally across the board. Stanford University history professor David M. Kennedy argued that the people who are not in any danger of being on the firing line are paying the poorest Americans to “… do some of their most dangerous business while they go on with their affairs unbloodied and undistracted.” Requiring everyone to join the armed forces will ensure that the American military truly represents all Americans. 5 Finally, compulsory military service would unite the country and serve as a rite of passage. Most Americans live in narrow communities, where people tend to dress, think, and act alike. Joining the military would allow young adults to leave their sheltered communities and meet people who are different—people they otherwise likely would never have met. In an article entitled “The End of the Draft and More,” published in the National Review, noted historian Stephen Ambrose wrote, “Today, Cajuns ​ ​ from the Gulf Coast have never met a black person from Chicago. Kids from the ghetto don't know a middle-class white. Mexican-Americans have no contact with Jews. Muslim Americans have few Christian acquaintances. And so on.” But during our world wars, everyone had to fight, including famous people. Ice-T, Bill Cosby, Clint Eastwood, and Elvis Presley all served in the military! In the past, serving as a soldier was a rite of passage, as young adults grew up together in the face of war. Whatever divided them—race, religion, language—was not as strong as the patriotism that united them. This broadening of our experience breaks down walls and builds tolerance. Of course, serving in the military is not the only way to bolster American citizenship, ensure fairness, unite 6 ​ ​ Americans, and safeguard our freedoms. People can volunteer to work in soup kitchens, clean up parks, or build homes for others, for instance. But the key word here is “volunteer,” as people can choose not to act in support of our country. An abundance of evidence strongly suggests the need for mandatory national service. America’s freedoms come at a price, and to keep these freedoms, we must all serve in the military.

1 Mandates (def: requires) ​ 2 Conscription (def: forced enlistment for military service) ​ 3 Mediocre (def: average) ​ Argument 2: No, No--We Won’t Go! Mandatory Military Service is Not Necessary in America 1 A large number of Americans believe that the draft is obsolete, an outdated practice from decades ago. They ​ ​ believe that in this modern day and age, we no longer need everyone to serve in the armed forces. These Americans argue that some people would not serve in the military even if they were drafted and forced into service, and I agree. I wouldn’t want to be a soldier, and I know a lot of my friends wouldn’t either. 2 History tells us that forced conscription would likely result in widespread resistance and civil unrest. Further, America has not had a draft in more than forty years. This means that more than a generation of people has no memory of the entire male population being called up to fight. My 62-year-old neighbor Mr. Walton, a Vietnam veteran, told me about the widespread resistance to the draft in the mid-1960’s and early 1970’s. He explained that there were anti-war protests and even riots! Part of the problem came from the “exemptions.” These were ways to get out of serving in the military, granted by the government. Some exemptions included young men enrolled in college, men working on farms, or those preparing for a career as religious leaders. Conscientious objectors—people who refused to fight on moral or religious grounds—could also apply for an exemption from serving in the military. 3 Protesters said that mandatory military service was not fair because many of the exemptions meant that less-privileged Americans would be most likely to fight and die. Responding to these concerns, the government halted just about all of the exemptions in the late 1960’s. Instead, the government set up a lottery system for the draft. This did not stop the protests; in fact, they got worse. Some young men who knew from their lottery number that they would be drafted ran away. Others went to jail rather than fight in the war. Do we want to have widespread protests like this again? Reinstituting the draft could result in such upheavals. 4 Next, compulsory national service would weaken American citizenship. Writing in U.S. News & World, ​ Matthew Spaulding, the director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at the Heritage Foundation, argued that serving your country should be an individual choice, not one mandated by the government. He believes that volunteer organizations, private service groups, and people working on their own help the country better than being forced to serve in the army could. He cited statistics to back up his assertion: “[In 2009,] 63.4 million Americans volunteered, well exceeding the 500,000 involved in national service. Total private giving is estimated to exceed $300 billion a year, with individuals accounting for 75 percent of that… One organization, the Knights of Columbus, made charitable contributions of over $150 million and generated some 70 million volunteer service hours.” Therefore, he concludes that Americans should reject the draft. Instead, we should do more volunteer work. By becoming more involved in the community, we would become better citizens, Spaulding believes. 5 But Spaulding goes even further. He thinks that mandatory military conscription would funnel away time from volunteering. This, in turn, “undermines the American character and threatens to weaken private associations,” he says. The draft would harm our country far more than it would ever help it. 6 Further, compulsory national service would not be fair to all Americans—and it never was. People against the draft argue that the mandatory military service was never fair because mainly poor people served. The all-volunteer army is fair because people of all races, religions, and backgrounds serve. Besides, how can something be fair if it is forced? With a draft, people are required to serve. They lose their free will. Walter Y. Oi, an economics professor who served on President Richard M. Nixon's Commission on an All-Volunteer Armed Force, believes the only good way to create an army is with volunteers. “Maintaining freedom of occupational choice and relying on incentives to attract qualified individuals for our national defense," Oi stated in National Service, “is surely the most equitable method of procuring military manpower." ​ ​ 7 Last but not least, compulsory military service would be very expensive. It costs a great deal of money to train soldiers. People who volunteer to join the military often make it their career, serving twenty years or longer. In contrast, people who are drafted serve their time and then usually leave the military to pursue civilian careers. Why spend the money to train someone who is only going to stay in the armed forces for two years? “People in the military get a lot of expensive training, and it's cost-effective to try to get a fairly long return on that investment,” explains Beth Asch, a senior economist who specializes in defense manpower at the Rand Corporation. 8 We would be naïve to think that bringing back the draft would be fair. It would not strengthen our ties to our ​ ​ country, either. Society’s problems are not that easily solved. Rather, bringing back the draft would more likely bring greater inequality and widespread protests. It would cost the country a great deal of money, too. For these reasons, America should continue with an all-volunteer army.