Has The Nation Noticed That We Have Been Fighting A War For The Last 13 Years?

2014-12-16T13:12:48-05:00

What's Your Take? Universal National Service For 18-28 year olds? Article is a little on the long side, but directly addresses that feeling I got after my deployments; you know, the one where you realize you have been risking your neck for a year and the Nation doesn't care about what is happening in Iraq, Afghanistan, ect. http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/the-great-draft-dodge-20141212

The Great Draft Dodge

Karl Eikenberry and what Americans lost when they stopped fighting.

Response by MAJ George Hamilton made Dec 16 at 2014 3:56 PM

2014-12-16T15:56:08-05:00

Mandated national service is a step in the wrong direction in my opinion. It's in direct conflict with the ideals of a free nation.

Instead of trying to validate or rationalize our efforts in two largely ill-advised conflicts, I think we could do a much greater service to our armed forces and spend some time taking a long hard look at what kinds of conflict we choose to engage in in the future.

Response by 1SG Timothy Trewin made Dec 19 at 2014 5:09 AM

2014-12-19T05:09:31-05:00

I am truly conflicted on this as I see it from both perspectives. While I am against mandatory service for a number of reasons, I also see the drawback of having an all volunteer force. To me having that all volunteer force allows for leaders to utilize them far more than they would a military composed of conscripts. The mentality of "they signed up for this" seems to drive the thinking that they can be utilized to fight any conflict that politicians feel need fighting. Iraq, whether anyone agrees with it or not, is a fine example of this.