Should military service be a requirement of citizenship? 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?

Should military service be a requirement of citizenship?

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LTC (Join to see)

Posted 12 y ago

No<div><br></div><div>That's not what freedom looks like.</div>

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SPC Richard White

Posted >1 y ago

In all honesty I think everyone should do some sort of military service

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Suspended Profile

Posted 12 y ago

As a knee jerk reaction, I would give a resounding, unequivocal YES to making people serve. I'm 24 and in general my generation is full of entitlement, ignorance, lack of respect or work ethic and the list goes on. It isn't everyone but a great many do show these negative qualities. Military service for sure has given me far more than I could ever imagine in the way of opportunity, experience, friendships and the appreciation of respect and work ethic. With all that being said, the caveat is that I CHOSE to serve. Big difference in that because people who choose to better themselves will get better. If you don't care, you won't. If the U.S had a service requirement like Israel, you'd only see mass desertion and widespread blatant disrespect or breaking of UCMJ by all the people who simply refuse to serve. Ultimately you would face a bloated military in desperate need of cleansing even more so than we do now. I doubt even a quarter of the people who would have to serve would take anything positive away from the military because its simply not for everyone. So in conclusion, leave it a choice. I take great pride in saying I do something that 1% of the US does, that the rest will never do.

SFC (Join to see)

12 y

Couldn't have said it any better. Great post.

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SSG Gerhard S.

12 y

Well said. I would only add that the Federal government having all those troops and other compulsory "volunteers" on hand can only lead to finding things for them to do. Productive, or not. Peaceful, or otherwise.

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SSG Gerhard S.

12 y

Well said. I would only add that the Federal government having all those troops and other compulsory "volunteers" on hand can only lead to finding things for them to do. Productive, or not. Peaceful, or otherwise.

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SSG Benjamin Cho

Posted 12 y ago

we aren't living in a Heinlein novel of starship troopers fascist nationalist society. so the answer is no. It is a dream thinkers conjuring to believe such ideas. Be practical and you realize that your average military servicemember is only interested in beer, chasing women, buying a ford mustang or jeep wrangler and the next xbox game.

Russia, Israel, South Korea are some of the countries with compulsory military service but that doesn't make them any better or worse societies.

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SPC Dejan Smaic

Posted 12 y ago

Give me a break. The answer is NO. Not everyone is suited for the military, nor are we in a wartime economy. I would strongly oppose any such notion for an introduction of a Bill having this requirement.

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SSG Gerhard S.

Posted 12 y ago

Military service should NOT be a requirement for Citizenship. First of all there's the practicality issue. In order for this to happen you'd have to convince most of Congress, AND most of the States to Amend the Constitution to make it so. And in doing so you'd be asking most people to vote themselves OUT of citizenship.

That being said, a multitude of comments I've read here shows how quickly such ideas parlay into ideas such as "reinstating the Draft", or Universal compulsory service of one sort or another.

We had Compulsory service in the past it was called SLAVERY, and it's ALWAYS a bad idea. It's a bad idea when one group, believed to be beneath another group are forced into servitude to pick cotton, and it's a bad idea when the group is a bunch of young men and women being forced to fight unpopular, politically or financially motivated wars on behalf of crooked politicians, and their bankers and corporate cronies.

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SFC William Swartz Jr

Posted 12 y ago

I think that either military or national civil service of some type should be mandatory for all citizens, this would ensure that everyone understands what the rights that we all hold so dear and that we all piss and moan about, are actually about. I believe that we would all be better citizens of this great nation of ours if this were true.

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SSG Gerhard S.

12 y

Respectfully SFC, MANDATORY service does not ensure everyone understands what rights we all hold, because the right of choice has been taken from them.  If people are FORCED to serve then they do not possess rights, they are SLAVES to their government.<br><br>That being said, I DO believe that Military service done so voluntarily IS a beneficial experience, and for those who choose to serve, as did I for 22 years, it is a positive factor in their lives.<br><br>

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SSG (Join to see)

Posted 12 y ago

While military service certainly isn't the answer for everyone, I do feel that there are places within the government, and public service fields that could provide coverage for that gap. An all volunteer military stands superior to a conscript type military simply because of that fact: Those service members WANT to be there. For those who are disinterested in defending their nation physically, there are plenty of other opportunities to serve their community, and gain a better perspective on politics, and have a vested interest in the happenings of their government. Red cross, UNICEF, recycling centers, power plants, highway repair and maintenance, agriculture, waste-management, wildlife conservation - all of these fields have strong ties to the country's political infrastructure, and can provide a broader understanding of what all it takes to make America great. And if there is only a one year service requirement, sometime after high school, and before or after college, but certainly before beginning your 'career', then it wouldn't negatively impact the plans of most citizens. It should definitely be a requirement to vote, and would almost certainly increase the amount of citizens overall who actually DO vote.

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SSG Gerhard S.

12 y

SSG, I'm curious, you first described all these public service jobs "opportunities" but later refer to them a "service requirement" . Are the words "opportunity" and "requirement" synonymous? One could contend that the best"service" one can contribute to society is to be productive, and therefore not a drain on it. Lastly, it could be suggested that working in the areas of agriculture, infrastructure would be best accomplished through private sector JOBS rather than through a compulsory Federal, State, local, or international program. Government jobs, particularly the make-work type are notoriously unproductive and are infinitely more likely to represent a drain on society rather than a benefit.

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SFC Josh Watson

Posted 12 y ago

I'd say yes if, and only if everyone in the country wanted to join a civil or military service.  The reason I say no is because if you look at the military right now, there are plenty of "volunteers" who have since changed their minds and are not meeting the standards of the military because of their dismay.  Imagine if we forced people into joining the military who didn't want to be in the service in the first place.  It's a nice thought though.

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SSG Gerhard S.

12 y

There's no need to imagine SFC..... Vietnam proved your analysis. Consider the Fratricide in Vietnam toward our Officers (by our enlisted). Lastly, having a large (compulsory military) sitting around with nothing to do begs for politicians to find something for them to do.

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CW2 Joseph Evans

Posted 12 y ago

I'm a firm believer that having an interest in politics, one should also have an understanding of what it is when they call for people to man the trenches.

2 Years to vote

4 years to hold public office

The Defenders of the Republic want their guns, become a part of the well regulated U.S. State militias. National Guard and ready reserve for local law enforcement agencies.

By the way, most of them don't vote now anyway, so they won't be missing that much if they don't serve.

Might suck for people like Ted Nugent who might have to give up his guns since he's disqualified from militia service.... (Let the butt hurt flow....;)

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SFC Stephen P.

12 y

If we are to adopt the full Heinlein model, no one would be denied the right to serve except for mental deficiency.

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CW2 Joseph Evans

12 y

We have the technology to put everyone who wants to serve on the battle line and make them effective. Except the mentally defective. Who shouldn't be voting anyway... again, butt hurt....

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CH (CPT) Heather Davis

12 y

Chief I am in full agreement with you. I have visited Israel three times and had the honor to work with their Military.

I think it would be a solution for many that do not have there GED. It would provide not only a way to citizenship but also create a path from truancy to serving to college.

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SFC Terry Wilcox

12 y

Ten Year Plan to Recover:

This
ten year plan doesn’t blindly-flagrantly throw green at the crown of the tree (stimulus money) –

Rather
it feeds from the roots – so the tree – known as The U.S.A. – Can survive
and grow - sustaining the World’s Economy, without destroying the greatest,
most giving, nation, on this planet.

This
Ten Year Plan

Creates
Jobs

Builds
houses

Sells
Homes

Sells
cars

Improves America’s health

Puts
our young to work

Puts
their families to work

Creates
disposable cash, for the purchase of “STUFF”

Which
reopens factories, puts more Americans to work, builds greater Tax Revenue, etc

Provides
training for our youth

Provides
direction and employment for Minorities

Creates a tax base, rather than a drain... from City to
Federal Government’s coffers

Boosts
Charitable Contributions to the World’s various disasters, hungry and needy

Again;
provides job skills for the young – especially the drop-outs and those prone to
join gangs.

What could do so much?

Simply bring back the Uniformed Services Draft…
for ten years… with mandatory service
in one of the five uniformed services.

Re-open
America’s training bases – use the
Recovery Money – To Recover!

The Uniformed Services Draft would include anyone with-in this country’s borders and its
possessions – seventeen years of age and older, male or female– not
in school (an incentive to
stay in school).

Legal Citizen or not… avoidance = Jail… or for those not born to, or legally in this country, return to the foreign nation from which they came, voluntarily…
at their own cost.

Again… provides incentive for children to
stay in school, and may slow the influx of aliens into this country…

Also
provides greater national security… as a standing, trained army, is the
greatest deterrent to Armed Aggression.

Does this affect my family?

YES! I have a son, a SFC, US Army (three tours in the Middle East), a
D-In-Law (different marriages), and a
Granddaughter an E-5, currently serving in the US Army… I have Two Grandsons, and Three Granddaughters
of age… Three of which are out of school and unemployable in today’s economy…
I’m a Sergeant First Class, US Army, Retired, 1985 (Vietnam, 2 tours), My Father, A SSG, was Army Air Corp (WWII), and My Grandfather was an Army
SGT (WWI).

Please consider the greater benefits…

A
trained, standing Army does not mean we have to have, or be
at WAR… and it could mean the
difference between a foreign country attacking, or considering a different, Peaceful…
venue.

Sergeant
First Class

Terry
Wilcox

US
Army, Retired

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