Posted on Apr 24, 2016
Congress takes its first step toward killing the military draft
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The military draft may be headed for the scrap heap.
The House Armed Services Committee will include instructions to examine the Selective Service program's viability and possible “alternatives” as part of its review of the annual defense authorization bill next week, staffers confirmed on Friday.
The move comes following months of hand-wringing over whether women will be forced to register for the draft as part of the military's plans to open combat jobs to all troops regardless of gender.
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers — several of whom sit on the committee — has already offered legislation to abolish the Selective Service System, calling it an outdated vestige of military history.
Committee officials said the authorization bill language is not geared toward keeping or eliminating the Selective Service system, but reviewing the cost and operation of a program that hasn’t been used to fill the ranks since 1973.
The agency's activities cost taxpayers roughly $23 million each year, and a 2012 Government Accountability Office report questioned whether the system could even provide a list of draftees to the Defense Department if called upon to do so.
Meanwhile, military officials over the last two decades have repeatedly downplayed the idea of reviving the military draft, saying today’s all-volunteer force is the most highly trained and disciplined in American history.
While returning to the draft could connect more Americans to the armed forces, it would almost certainly also dilute that skill.
Several lawmakers have also voiced plans to introduce related amendments to the authorization bill to specifically exempt women from registering for the draft, arguing that Pentagon officials haven’t fully thought out the ramifications of opening combat jobs to women.
The authorization bill, which sets spending guidelines and policy priorities for next fiscal year, will be marked up by the armed services committee on Thursday. The Senate must take up the measure later this year before sending the proposal to the White House to be signed into law.
The House Armed Services Committee will include instructions to examine the Selective Service program's viability and possible “alternatives” as part of its review of the annual defense authorization bill next week, staffers confirmed on Friday.
The move comes following months of hand-wringing over whether women will be forced to register for the draft as part of the military's plans to open combat jobs to all troops regardless of gender.
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers — several of whom sit on the committee — has already offered legislation to abolish the Selective Service System, calling it an outdated vestige of military history.
Committee officials said the authorization bill language is not geared toward keeping or eliminating the Selective Service system, but reviewing the cost and operation of a program that hasn’t been used to fill the ranks since 1973.
The agency's activities cost taxpayers roughly $23 million each year, and a 2012 Government Accountability Office report questioned whether the system could even provide a list of draftees to the Defense Department if called upon to do so.
Meanwhile, military officials over the last two decades have repeatedly downplayed the idea of reviving the military draft, saying today’s all-volunteer force is the most highly trained and disciplined in American history.
While returning to the draft could connect more Americans to the armed forces, it would almost certainly also dilute that skill.
Several lawmakers have also voiced plans to introduce related amendments to the authorization bill to specifically exempt women from registering for the draft, arguing that Pentagon officials haven’t fully thought out the ramifications of opening combat jobs to women.
The authorization bill, which sets spending guidelines and policy priorities for next fiscal year, will be marked up by the armed services committee on Thursday. The Senate must take up the measure later this year before sending the proposal to the White House to be signed into law.
Congress takes its first step toward killing the military draft
Posted from armytimes.comPosted in these groups: 
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Congress
Posted 8 y ago
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To be honest I do not think ending the Selective Service system is a good idea SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL. While it has been over 40 years since the Draft has been used the world to less safe now than it was during the Cold War.
The military is engaged in a reduction in force and streamlining of the military services. In the past 125 years when we were threatened, we have always needed to mobilized mothballed equipment and soldiers because the last reduction in force left us significantly short in critical areas of trained personnel.
As we have reduced forces over the past 20 years we have relied more heavily on the Reserve Components and used them much more frequently than the concept which balances the forces structure.
The military is engaged in a reduction in force and streamlining of the military services. In the past 125 years when we were threatened, we have always needed to mobilized mothballed equipment and soldiers because the last reduction in force left us significantly short in critical areas of trained personnel.
As we have reduced forces over the past 20 years we have relied more heavily on the Reserve Components and used them much more frequently than the concept which balances the forces structure.
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