Selective Draft Would Be a Disaster

[thedrifter]

03-18-2004

Selective Draft Would Be a Disaster



By Ralph Omholt



The draft for military service was an accepted ?norm? of American life from shortly before World War II until the Vietnam War, when it became the monster of American society.



Now, more than 30 years after its demise, the draft is threatening to emerge once more.



In hindsight, the Vietnam War was a political disaster, costing 58,000 American dead. Upwards of 20,000 of those were draftees. The war brought draft-card burnings, chants of ?Hell no, we won?t go,? and picket signs ? even bombings. The military draft ended in 1973 with the U.S. commitment in Vietnam radically reduced. That also marked the beginning the ?All-Volunteer Force? built on a foundation of improved pay and benefits.



In 1975, the Selective Service System suspended mandatory registration for the draft, only to resume it in 1980 after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It is estimated that approximately 13.5 million men, aging from 18 to 25, are currently registered with the Selective Service.



Today, America is again at war in Afghanistan and Iraq. While those conflicts alone do not portend the need for resurrecting the draft, signs of decline in military recruiting and retention may cause Congress and the Pentagon to consider reviving conscription, in perhaps a limited version.



I believe that would be a disaster for both the U.S. military and the country.



America is still a free-enterprise system, even in today?s military, which ostensibly competes with the private sector by offering recruits desirable wages, benefits and a promise of a satisfying and challenging career.



However, a closer look shows that there are serious shortcomings. In particular, soldiers today work toward a ?GI Bill? that provides only a fraction of what soldiers during the Cold War through Vietnam received. A second shortcoming is the decline in adequate medical care ? both inside the military and through the Veterans Administration ? experienced by wounded soldiers coming home from the ongoing wars.



We need to fix what is broken in the volunteer force rather than to open Pandora?s Box and re-create a military that is truly build ?on the cheap.?



Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has repeatedly insisted that he will not ask Congress to authorize the return of the draft, and last year inadvertently offended many veterans of the conscription-era military by belittling the value of conscripts in contrast to today?s volunteer soldiers.



However, recent news reports indicate that other government officials are quietly preparing for such a resurrection.



Last year, the Selective Service System quietly announced a recruiting drive for ?potential? draft board selection committee members. I can think of no other reason for this than Selective Service officials want to be ready to implement a nationwide conscription program at short notice if the government wants it to do so.



Then on March 13, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that the Selective Service System is considering a controversial option of ?selective? conscription for people with key skills required by the military such as foreign language proficiency and computer programming. Reporter Eric Rosenberg revealed that Selective Service ?has begun the process of creating the procedures and policies to conduct such a targeted draft in case military officials ask Congress to authorize it and the lawmakers agree to such a request.?



The article quoted Selective Service spokesman Richard Flahavan: ?Talking to the manpower folks at the Department of Defense and others, what came up was that nobody foresees a need for a large conventional draft such as we had in Vietnam. But they thought that if we have any kind of a draft, it will probably be a special skills draft.?



While that concept may seem understandable on the surface, it essentially amounts to slavery. The Pentagon should go after people with ?special skills? through positive incentives, not involuntary servitude.



Officials noted that the Selective Service System already has a special program in place to register and draft health care personnel ages 20 to 44 ? covering more than 60 specialties ? in a crisis. Flahavan was specific that, to date, the Pentagon has made no such request.



Pentagon officials for the moment have repeated their denials of any hard plans to bring back the draft ? particularly a selective conscription of the type that Flahavan described. But as one who has learned to decode public utterances of bureaucrats, I find a troubling undertone of what I call a ?non-dismissal? of the various draft proposals.



America is an information-intensive society, so the relative silence of draft foes such as Rumsfeld to the latest trial balloon ? released, recall, by the Selective Service System itself ? is troubling.



Given the current political divide in the United States today over our conduct in Iraq, I believe that both Congress and the DoD will ultimately conclude that imposing a ?selective skills? draft goes too far and would create a controversy that is far greater than any benefits of dragooning a small number of skilled specialists into the military.



It seems more probable that the Pentagon can, as an alternative to reviving the draft, win support for more and more expensive contracts to civilian firms to provide those very services.



In short, the draft debate may well be a ruse to sidestep the groundswell of criticism against civilian defense contractors providing direct support to the military in Iraq and elsewhere.



But even if that is the case, those who support the ?All-Volunteer Force? should remain vigilant: If there is one thing we?ve learned since 9/11, an unexpected crisis or major setback could lead to a policy reversal.



The draft is not dead, and there are officials who know how to awaken it from its deep sleep.



Ralph Omholt is a Contributing Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at skydrifter@comcast.net. Send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com.

http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/...3.9943467492992


Ellie

[BLUEHAWK]

Ellie -
Glad you posted that.

[Keith_Hixson]

1. In Vietnam, Korea, WW II, Draftee performed very well, as well as those who enlisted. Draftees as a whole were as good or better than those who volunteered, especially in Vietnam. Often those who enlisted where doing so to get out of the infantry or other military occupations which were hazardous.
2. Selective Drafting would be a disaster. Especially for those in occupations needed by the military. That would not be fair. It would also make young folks going to college avoid such careers that would be drafted and probably create a shortage in those occupations.
3. I am not against a draft. But I am against a selective type drafting, that would definitely be a disaster waiting to happen.

A proud draftee! US56932007 (the bond man) 'thats what the Drill Sergeant called me in Basic.'


Keith Hixson

P.S.

Ellie glad to see you posting.

How is the family and you doing?

[thedrifter]

Keith_Hixson

Trying to continue on.....with Roger's visions....
Hard...but with the help of family and friends we are continuing on.....Oh yea and with my lawyer....
Today my children went back to work......First day by myself....I see it will be tough....
I will continue to fight the VA for my husband and all other Veterans, since they stated to him....that the cancer could be caused by Agent Orange.....They have been informed...they are fighting me now.....

I am a fighter....which Roger knew...So I will be strong and fight all obstucles that are coming into my paths.......

Thanks for asking......

Ellie

[Keith_Hixson]

I'm not going to get on the wrong side of You!

But I'll stand right behind you in your fight to make things right.

God Bless you and Good Luck.

Keith