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Should serving in the U.S. Military be mandatory for U.S. citizens?

F

finite automaton

Golden Member
Some people in the Selective Service thread were claiming that if a draft was re-instated, there would be a riot.

This made me think; in Israel, serving in the IDF is mandatory. Those complaining about the draft should be glad that the U.S. isn't more like Israel.

Then I got to thinking, would the U.S. be a better version of itself if serving in the military was necessary? That's where ATOT comes in.
 
No, US doesn't need that many people in its army considering our population. Mandatory boot camp and basic training lasting a couple weeks may be a good idea though.
 
Maybe. I'm always pretty impressed with how much more mature Singaporean kids are after military service, but that might not have to do with the service, so I don't know.
 
Cousins in Taiwan and friends from France can't tell me enough about what a waste of their time and life military service was for them.

Of course, rockets aren't landing on a daily basis in either Taiwan or France... nor are Taiwan and France invading oil rich countries.



The U.S. would be better if there were laws limiting the size of thongs and low-rise jeans to XS, S, and M.
 
I don't think it should be mandatory to go into the military

However, having a required national service (like a summer right out of high school, or the summer after you drop out) would be a good idea to me. Make sure that everyone learns what it's like to have a real job. Things like, the postal service or other government agencies. Hell, even the IRS. The military would, of course, be a substitute for it.

I like a national service idea, but not compulsory military service
 
Originally posted by: blinky8225
Maybe. I'm always pretty impressed with how much more mature Singaporean kids are after military service, but that might not have to do with the service, so I don't know.
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I think it's good for small countries. Plus I'd estimate around 35% of their population is required to serve for Singapore.
 
The last thing the US military wants is a bunch of draftees that don't want to be there. The US military also doesn't have the capacity to deal with the sheer volume of draftees that they would have to train. We are talking 10 million+. It would create chaos.
 
No; you should have the freedom to serve or not serve. There should still be some kind of drafting mechanism in place though in case WWIII rolls around and you need the manpower, but this system should include men and women (since they can equally serve, even if the military doesn't want them in combat roles).

Edit:
Plus, the military has better overall morale by being all-volunteer.
 
Originally posted by: Kreon
I don't think it should be mandatory to go into the military

However, having a required national service (like a summer right out of high school, or the summer after you drop out) would be a good idea to me. Make sure that everyone learns what it's like to have a real job. Things like, the postal service or other government agencies. Hell, even the IRS. The military would, of course, be a substitute for it.

I like a national service idea, but not compulsory military service
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That is all great. How about the people that already have a real job and are using that time to work there butts off to get enough money so they can go to college in the fall?
 
NO with very small exception that would be if foreign troops came on us soil. I guessing if that it to happen, reinstating draft will not be needed as us citizens would be fighting the invaders without being asked to.
 
Yes in the sense that maybe it would deter unnecessary conflicts as the general public would see what war is like.

No because there are people who should definitely NOT be in the military and the size would very much cripple our current structure.
 
No, aside from the Constitutional questions, I don't want the military distracted by having to deal with a bunch of folks who don't want to be there.
 
Originally posted by: finite automaton

Then I got to thinking, would the U.S. be a better version of itself if serving in the military was necessary?
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There's something to be said for the concept of the military instilling the discipline and work ethic that's sorely lacking. But the logistics of inducting that many people into the armed forces when there's nothing for them to do far outweighs the benefit to society. A draft is for when the all-volunteer army is too small, it's not a good solution when it's already too large.

However, I think that welfare should be abolished and the people collecting should be forced to serve. If you want to get paid, WORK FOR IT.
 
No way.

As cliche as it may be, the thought of having to force people to serve is essentially un-American. Realistically speaking the logistics of having a draft is ridiculous. If the U.S. was getting daily missile strike from Canada (a la Israel) then maybe a draft would be reasonable.
 
Can't be, because the military does wrong and you can't require people to participate in wrong actions.

I have nothing against a multiple system though...choice of military or humanitarian service in several areas. I would also require a 'buy-out' option that allows someone to choose not to serve, in exchange for surrendering all right to government services in the future.

Citizenship should have costs, as well as rewards.
 
I would say yes, if they changed the military to be more like college or worked in league with colleges then why not. A structured school with some hard physical and mental training would be great. With that said I do not think we should be forced to go to war, I believe that part should be optional in most cases.

If college was not about partying for so many people and you were taught some life skills along with some serious discipline would anyone really be worse off. Now again a little disclaimer, what I wrote is a best possible scenario of course there would be some exceptions to this and some people would not do well in such and environment.
 
No. The argument in favor of it usually has to do with kids being spoiled and needing some discipline. Not all of us are that way, and for those of us that are plenty don't need the military to start getting on track. So screw off and let me do my own thing Mister Gubment.
 
Originally posted by: an51r
I would say yes, if they changed the military to be more like college or worked in league with colleges then why not. A structured school with some hard physical and mental training would be great. With that said I do not think we should be forced to go to war, I believe that part should be optional in most cases.

If college was not about partying for so many people and you were taught some life skills along with some serious discipline would anyone really be worse off. Now again a little disclaimer, what I wrote is a best possible scenario of course there would be some exceptions to this and some people would not do well in such and environment.
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That's not what the military is for.
 
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