Posted on Jan 13, 2014
Should military service be a requirement of citizenship?
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I know Israel has some sort of requirement. I was wondering we in the military thought. It is my opinion, that a two year requirement would be beneficial on many fronts. I think the average citizen would pay more attention to the politics of our nation, and therefore be more educated on who they vote for. What are your thoughts?
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Posted 12 y ago
Responses: 72
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YES!!!! Men/Women
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Absolutely not.
I hear an underlying concern, and I agree with it, SGT Lawrence- in a culture of isolationism where we drive alone in cars to work, use cell-phones to communicate instead of face to face conversations, and town hall meetings stand empty, how do we motivate a disinterested population who has the sovereign right to decide the future of the nation? It is a disturbing thought that people who cannot find Kabul or Baghdad on a map are responsible for the national decisions of how we employ force there (and for how long).
The disagreement comes with mandatory "military" service. It is a life and death function, and not to be entrusted to forces that are not on the battlefield of their own volition.
Should the nation re-look terms like 'citizenship versus resident' or 'mandatory civil service'? There may be a stronger argument for either concept. Somehow we as a culture have accepted the fallacy of logic that because we are "free", we do not owe something to the nation in trade for that "freedom", and that is a societal shift that will have to occur before any such discussions take on the hues of reality.
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As much as I would like military service to be a requirement of citizenship, my answer is NO. As a former Drill Sergeant, we have enough problems turning the ash and trash dumped on us by Recruiters (no offense intended) into Soldiers. Let's not make a bad situation worse.
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Many great responses and discussions. I'm convinced that it would not be a good idea. In a perfect world, our young people would look forward to the experience and people they would meet. Alas, we know through experience that they would be generally opposed to the idea and difficult to lead because of that.
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I could understand a civil service or military requirement. I just dont think that a lot of people in the U.S.A. are suitable for military service. I like the way germany and some other countries handle it, where you can elect to care for the elderly or work for the city/town you live instead of doing the military service. this two year requirement would infuse some much needed income into the economy and could help a lot of younger people find some direction with their lives. there are some societal issues to consider though so I fear it would cause a lot of problems at first.
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It's bad enough to be in charge of slugs who were stupid enough to sign up. It would be even worse to try to lead people who don't want to do this to begin with. Under Reagan he did talk about an American Foreign Legion but those were different times. Even the draftees during Vietnam eventually gave in to fulfilling their duties but again, that was different times. The Phillipines used to have a program where 60 of their citizens used to be able to join the US military a year & become US citizens. Panama did as well until we gave back the Canal Zone. The world has changed.
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you are absolutely wrong and here is why... i served with a guy in the marine corps that did not want to be there with all his might. he hated it. he was the biggest shit bird, skatebird, 10 percenter of all time. imagine serving with people whose lives were completey wrecked by being forced to serve and who hated everysingle aspect of the job they were supposed to be doing. second...people in the military are no more informed about or knowledgeable about or educated about or pay more attention to our nations politics than anyone else.
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Absolutely it should be a requirement for citizenship. In order to gain citizenship, you must live in the country for 6 years. What a better way to get your citizenship than by working for your money, showing allegiance to the country you want to live and earning your right to be a citizen. It would eliminate a burden on tax payers to support these people for not being here legally with welfare and handouts. There are many ways this could end a lot of issues in our society today.
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I don't know if conscription is the way to go. You do that, and it becomes somewhat of an indentured servitude. I think that if a legal immigrant serves honorably and does not get into trouble, there should be a streamlined process for citizenship. By a prerequisite for citizenship that mandates military service? Nah.
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SSG Gerhard S.
1SG, Respectfully... It's not indentured servitude of one party doesn't have a choice in the matter. That's called Slavery. I do agree with your contention that Immigrants who volunteer to serve should be fast-tracked into Citizenship assuming all other requirements are met.
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The theory has merit, but the potential for abuse of 'non-citizens' is too great.
About 4 million reach the age of majority every year. More than the entire combined strength of all components of our armed forces. What do you propose we do with the additional numbers?
About 4 million reach the age of majority every year. More than the entire combined strength of all components of our armed forces. What do you propose we do with the additional numbers?
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CW2 Joseph Evans
2 Years mandatory service in the military or militia supporting either Federal or State. National Guard, Ready Reserve, Fire Brigade, EMT, Police... There are ways to positively employ them in support of the communities... As much as I like the Military tour requirement, the numbers would be overwhelming even if you reduced the wages for E-1 through 4. But we have no shortage of what are considered paramilitary forces.<div><br></div><div>Then again, using the North Korean model, the troops assist with agricultural production in spring and fall, doing most of their training in the summer, and maintenance in the winter.</div>
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SFC Stephen P.
Then the hazard is even greater. You're essentially talking about nationalizing industry and staffing it through coercion.
You cannot do that while simultaneously respecting individual rights.
You cannot do that while simultaneously respecting individual rights.
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Cpl Ray Fernandez
SFC Stephen, there are other ways to make use of the population other than an obligation to the military, I'd welcome a choice of options for the young. One of the greatest drawbacks that young people face when leaving school either high school or college, is the lack of experience, if you gave young people the option to work in ways that benefited the country that would also offset a great deal of the costs of their college education they would benefit more than throwing someone into a uniform and forcing them to serve in the military. I agree with you that the idea of obligated military service would not be beneficial to the nation.
To clarify my idea a bit more, if someone wishes to pursue a career in medicine, we can have them apply their college education in hospitals, and medical clinics through out the country seeing as we have a population of well over 300 million people, with when I checked the number of doctors in 2011 for a college course was right around 972,000 for the entire country. I wouldn't say as CW2 Evans said that they should be nationalized and placed into industry, but to work in public service to gain valuable experience which would likely make them more marketable when they pursue careers later on.
To clarify my idea a bit more, if someone wishes to pursue a career in medicine, we can have them apply their college education in hospitals, and medical clinics through out the country seeing as we have a population of well over 300 million people, with when I checked the number of doctors in 2011 for a college course was right around 972,000 for the entire country. I wouldn't say as CW2 Evans said that they should be nationalized and placed into industry, but to work in public service to gain valuable experience which would likely make them more marketable when they pursue careers later on.
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SFC Stephen P.
There are unintended consequences you are not considering.
The reason that young people lack employment opportunities is not because they lack experience, but because the positions can be staffed with more experienced personnel. I know that sounds like 6 in one hand half a dozen in the other, but consider it. If there were fewer potential employees with experience, the inexperienced would have more opportunities available.
The placement problem stems from allocating education resources without regard to actual market demands. The reallocation stems from the 3rd party payer system currently employed (which is also the source of the expense).
Under your proposal, will everyone not exit the coercive services with the same amount of experience? Will employers then not have the same decision of hiring the more experienced over the lesser experienced?
Employment is not just a matter of meeting the qualifications.
The reason that young people lack employment opportunities is not because they lack experience, but because the positions can be staffed with more experienced personnel. I know that sounds like 6 in one hand half a dozen in the other, but consider it. If there were fewer potential employees with experience, the inexperienced would have more opportunities available.
The placement problem stems from allocating education resources without regard to actual market demands. The reallocation stems from the 3rd party payer system currently employed (which is also the source of the expense).
Under your proposal, will everyone not exit the coercive services with the same amount of experience? Will employers then not have the same decision of hiring the more experienced over the lesser experienced?
Employment is not just a matter of meeting the qualifications.
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