Mandatory Military Service

[cnelk]

The Rokslide Off Season has officially begun...

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Terrible idea.

 

[medvedyt]

as someone that had to do one year (12 months) in my country i will say that if you were lucky to do what you like it is great otherwise it can a waste of time. i was put in high training unit and did shooting for all the time and was offered a contract and was put in the reserve up to the age of 35 in first line combat unit but again it is not always the case and many young men were just driving trucks in circling to make sure the units were given the same amount of fuel the next year ...

 

[Blowdowner]

So there is an ongoing thread about drug addicts living in the street in tents, wherever they please (AKa homeless) and current situation here in the US. Is not working. There are a number of things that could turn the corner on the current drug epidemic, but I seriously would be in favor of mandatory military service being discussed by the powers to be.

After HS you want to go to college? Great, upon completion those graduates could enlist as officers. College isn’t in your future? Then you simply fulfill your obligations as an enlisted member. There are a number of reasons this would be a net positive. Men looking like men for one.

Edit…… this is for all US citizens and legal residents.

Thoughts?

Mandatory fruit picking would be more appropriate. But then that would take work from teenagers.

Draft wouldn't be necessary if soldiers were only sent to fight things that make sense and get to keep a piece of conquered territory. LESS THAN ONE PERCENT OF THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF WARFARE IS THIS CURRENT NONSENSE WHERE YOU DON'T GET TO SETTLE THE LAND YOU'VE SUBDUED. PEACEKEEPING MISSION MEANS YOU GET NOTHING.

 

[stan5677]

Tread all on me daddy.

 

[Coveyleader]

The Rokslide Off Season has officially begun...

For sure! Next post…… how to find hunting spots via photos put online….. First example moose spots in AK.

 

[Stache Attack]

Really seems like Israel is thriving right now… I am not against what you are saying, but you would need to limit VA benefits in that case.

 

[MeatMissile]

I won’t say what side of the aisle I’m on, but I’d rather not give the other side weapons, tactics, and survival training. You know, just in case there ever is a boogaloo.

 

[2531usmc]

I’ve had this conversation before during one of those situations you find yourself in with all the time to sit there and solve the worlds problems...It is my belief that a conscript could help change things for the better but with some caveats.

The standards for entry would have to become more stringent. Maybe not so much on the weight standard but for sure a better physiological eval and standard. Norway for example has a conscript for men and women but only accepts a small fraction.

The minimum acceptable military service would be with the national guard for 2 years. That way, those that want to be in the regular services aren’t stuck with those that really don’t want to be there. Also, the individual may want to stay closer to home for various reasons.

As an alternative to military service for the conscientious objector, etc., doing 2 years of wildland fire fighting since it shares a lot of similarities to the military in building good character but would still be provide a needed service to nation.

This hypothesis might sound all well enough on paper but also might be logistically infeasible.

During the Vietnam era, we had two year enlistments. It sorta worked because we needed bodies incountry, it was ok if they were marginally trained, it was a relatively low tech war, and the pay was low.

Now, the skills to operate weapons systems, even infantry weapons, is through the roof and the pay & benefits is comparable to the civilian workforce. And oh by the way, infantry survivability on the modern battlefield requires significant levels of skills, training, and technology based systems.

The days of lots of infantry serving as cannon fodder is long gone.

So what would these 2 year draftees do other than take up space and resources. Pretty minimal gain to lethality at a pretty considerable cost in dollars

 

[2531usmc]

I won’t say what side of the aisle I’m on, but I’d rather not give the other side weapons, tactics, and survival training. You know, just in case there ever is

I won’t say what side of the aisle I’m on, but I’d rather not give the other side weapons, tactics, and survival training. You know, just in case there ever is a boogaloo.

Boogaloo….pfft. A topic for morons…..

 

[Hydra6]

Our military is relatively small compared to total population. How is that going to work?

I am retired US Army - started 1981 which was a few years after the All Volunteer military started. I prefer a system where people volunteered. I want the best possible not the "all of the above"

 

[cnelk]

For sure! Next post…… how to find hunting spots via photos put online….. First example moose spots in AK.

Draw the tag and find a pilot

 

[Crowmangler]

I have stated for years that the #1 thing that the gov't can do that will solve 90% of our issues is MASS DEPORTATION of illegals, cancel ALL visas (H1b's, etc) and have a 50-year moratorium on all legal immigration.
#2 is treat drug dealers as the demons they are with long mandatory minimum sentences.
#3 is limit gov't handouts to a finite amount of time (unless extreme circumstances)
Then you won't need mandatory service requirements to put our citizens back on track, they will already be on track.

 

[Reburn]

I’d be more inline to support a Heinlein type citizenship idea. If you want to vote you need some skin in the game whether it be military service or some other federal service.

I think this went over most peoples heads. Its not the worst idea. As the population grows it seems more barriers to entry are needed.

 

[chanson_roland]

You realize that lots of those homeless folks are veterans right ???

Exactly why I shook my head at OP's comment. I'm old enough to remember that the first wave of serious homeless back in CA were largely Vietnam vets.

 

[Mtnmilsurp]

Deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan with the US Army was bad enough without conscripts… I can only imagine

 

[Yoder]

There's too many people for it to work. I would rather see some kind of mandatory community service. Six months would be good enough. It sounds good, but the reality would be something different. Imagine having to deal with these people.

 

[Yoder]

I think this went over most peoples heads. Its not the worst idea. As the population grows it seems more barriers to entry are needed.

I love the book Starship Troopers. Movie needed work. Another great idea from that book was punishing people with pain instead of time. I guarantee you wouldn't steal a car again after getting 20 lashes in the public square. Imagine how much money that would save on prisons.

 

[Bulldawg]

If you had stated mandated public service may have gotten more traction, mandatory military service is not the way to go in my opinion. Forcing that on someone should only be a last defense against total and absolute collapse and destruction of the nation.

Now, I have thought about how you could implement more voluntary service, and not just military service, but civil service, whether domestic or international. Take for example student loans and college education, hot topic these days. If one does not have the means to afford to go to college (which is largely a lie in my opinion, people can't afford to go to the big out of state party school more often than not) then we could have programs that are similar to the military in their implementation as it relates to indoctrination and hierarchy that would have benefits like education vouchers. Give people real world working experience, train on a skill set that is in demand in the nation.

It would be made out to sound bad with sound bites of work camps and the like, but if we can have a service that provides the nation with a net benefit, we could provide housing, and food, and a wage, cover all basic needs. You would have a job, would learn a skill, and that would be a transferrable skill for when your contractual time is up and you have transferrable work experience to go in the private sector or you would have an education voucher that you could use to get a college education if you desired.

But nothing mandatory. If you want to be given things from others, you should also offer something in return. But just telling someone they have to do military service isn't the way to go.

But of course this would probably be ripe for corruption and it would be very challenging to implement and I don't think there would be an appetite for it by the majority and especially those whom do just want free things.

 

[sconnieVLP]

Closing in on 15 years on AD, I have zero desire to lead draftees. On the whole, people who join under the AVF construct want to be there for one reason or another. Are there exceptions? Absolutely, and I spend an excessive amount of time dealing with those few. I can only imagine what it would look like dealing with a bunch of people who don’t care at all about doing a good job.