Timewaster's Guide Archive
General => Rants and Stuff => Topic started by: Mad Dr Jeffe on January 24, 2006, 10:06:52 PM
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Well, the Army has decided to raise the max enlistment age from 35 to 40.
So now you can be ancient and join as a private.
Wow.
Says to me a Draft might be in the works in the future if they cant hit recruiting goals.
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I wouldn't worry about the draft anytime soon. The pentagon doesn't get to decide if there is going to be a draft. Only congress has the power to start a draft and I don't think too many congressmen would be jumping at that idea, especially with this year being a midterm election. Things would have to be a lot worse than the Army simply missing their recruiting goals for one year.
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3 years running, during a war even.
And thats not factoring in the Navy which has been missing recruiting goals by a lot since 1998.
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Even if it has been 3 years, I doubt that the politicians will allow a draft. They will attack the Army's and Navy's recruiting goals first. Remember, the military, like any other government agency, always tries to grow and to get more money from the legislature so I won't assume that the recruiting goals mean anything just yet.
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This reminds me of a funny story. My team sergeant and I were walking to his apartment in downtown salt lake on a Sunday afternoon on a drill weekend (so we were in uniform) when we passed in front of a very trendy coffee shop. One of the young wags hanging out in front hailed us and inquired whether or not we were afraid we'd get hurt or killed since we were in the military.
He and his friends were obviously pleased with themselves for NOT having been so foolish as to voluntarily put themselves in harms way. My team sergeant turned to the young wag and replied. "Sure son, everybody gets afraid sometimes. But if I were you I'd be really afraid. You see Skar and I are part of an elite fighting unit that provides us with advanced training and surrounds us with men who are as or more highly trained than we are.
"You, on the other hand, will be drafted and sent into combat as a grunt, given very little training and you will be surrounded by other grunts with very little training. Good luck."
We left amidst a stunned silence.
My team sergeant was obviously playing off the youth's ignorance and prejudice. Neither of us thought a draft was very likely and we're both against it. Neither could even the lowest grunts in the U.S. military be described as having very little training. But the youth obviously thought a draft was likely and had a very low opinion of soldiers, so he bought it hook line and sinker. Ha ha!
As for the question of a draft as a means of backfilling the recruiting shortfalls. I, obviously, cannot predict the actions of congress. If they were to ask me, however, I would inform them that a draft would be very unwise. For many reasons.
Near the top of my list is the fact that someone you have to force into providing for the common defense is probably not someone you want involved in providing for the common defense. Especially not in today's media climate. The draft is hailed as a good move in WWII for two main reasons, in my opinion. 1. It was obvious to everybody, once Japan and Hitler got going, that they were facing a worldsized threat. and 2. The press was for that war and was probably as propoganda ridden and biased for it as they were/are against Vietnam and the war going on in the Middle East right now. So peer pressure worked for the draft instead of against it.
On the modern field of combat where it's less about charging a hill and more about smarts and endurance I'd much rather have 5 guys with me who volunteerred to be there than 10 guys who were drafted.
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I agree with Skar's comment. Also, the politicians are weighing in to combat over any rumors that there will be a draft or that the military is stretch to thin.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11023499/