Mandatory military service

Only in a time of war should we conscript.

I was in the volunteer Army. And I say no draft.

What the military does need is higher standards. Our military should not be an instrument for social change. Only patriotic Americans need apply.

I believe the military should have ONE physical fitness standard based on age---the same one the Army uses for males. All females should be held to that standard. It may mean culling 2/3rds of the females in the military, and the rest getting lower PT scores---but that would be all for the best.

The military should also not lower standards to let criminals into its ranks except maybe in dire circumstances.

When our military members have the status of hardcore patriots, instead of entitlement seeking losers, then it will have enough volunteers of high quality to keep it fully staffed.

Instead of offering scholarships just to the Military Academies, they should be recruiting young athletes by offering better college incentives.

All military members should be seen as forces multipliers, and to keep service members in the ranks longer, there should be multiple MOS programs that allow combat fighters to serve periods of time in support duties if they re-up.

 

Exactly. It all boils down to one thing. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Right now we have a volunteer military (100%) with people that want to be here. Why change that to FORCE snowflakes who don't want to have my back, into the military?

 

>>>MOD EDIT Quoted Post Deleted<<<

Timid nothing. I served williningly, including a tour in Iraq, but if the government tried to force me or anyone else to serve against our will, damn right I'd resist and encourage others to do so as well.

The way you guys are gushing over statism in this thread is a little worrying.

 

Life isn't fair. No person can do everything. And the majority of people are not cut out to excel in the military.

One of my grandfathers had polio, yet served as an office worker during WW 2 on a Navy Base.

 

I think the military needs to have a better recruiting campaign.

The last TV ad I saw was some Black female soldier plugging in a generator during a storm. I think the social justice/equality ads can go into the trash.

I liked the Marines ad with the dude slaying the dragon (joked about in Generation Kill). So more ads in this vein would help.

I was overweight and out of shape when I went on active duty. I could not even run a 1/4 mile around the football field track without stopping to walk. I dropped 40 lbs and passed Basic. Within another year I was able to pretty much max-out my PT tests and become about the fastest runner in my units.

Certainly for combat MOS's we need fit persons going into training. But the military also needs to have a good number of intelligent people to fill the hundreds positions that require them. From what I know, I don't think a dumb person would do well in the infantry any better than a fat person.

 

Dishonorable discharge which will follow them around for a lifetime

 

Thank you for your service, forgive me for sensing disrespect when you equated the military to 'goose steppers'. Did you find your service to be beneficial?

 

And when there are millions of people with dishonorable discharges for refusing government slavery, the effect that having a dishonorable discharge has on a person's life will change.

- - - Updated - - -

I certainly did. I found it beneficial because I wanted to be there.

I would never in a million years want to force military service on someone who didn't want to be there.

- - - Updated - - -

I certainly did. I found it beneficial because I wanted to be there.

I would never in a million years want to force military service on someone who didn't want to be there.

 

Perhaps your correct. But I think the majority would find it beneficial, as you did.

Pure conjecture, on both our parts.

 

I don't care if a majority end up being okay with their enslavement. I care about the minority who freedoms are violated.

 

Easy on the slavery thing. Its called public service. It should be for two years and it can take a wide variety of forms.

 

If you are being forced against your will to work, it is slavery.

 

Ok slavery then. Fine. I don't care. It benefits the person and the country. Win win. I would allow all kinds of genuine exemptions but in general I think it is a good thing

 

Yes, and with other forms of slavery, we can also have permanent 100% employment just by forcing people to work on infrastructure projects until they drop dead from exhaustion.

But because we believe in freedom as a nation, we shouldn't do those things.

If the government wants people to work for it, it should offer pay and benefits sufficient to get enough volunteers.

 

Yes and we should also bring back the whip, chains and overseers. LOL

Public service benefits the nation. It forces people to look beyond their own small world view and give them an understanding of the sacrafice others make to have the freedoms we have. And it helps the individual too. Two years won't kill anyone and like I said there can be plenty of exemptions.

 

The government shouldn't be in the business of "forcing people to look beyond their own small world view". It should be in the business of protecting individual rights.

The only exemption anyone should need is "I don't want to".

 

Wow, my geography must be wrong then.

If it is not a Western Nation, then where is Greece? Brazil?

- - - Updated - - -

Fine.

Refuse to work, no forms of welfare or public assistance. Ever.

 

There are benefits to mandatory service if you had a number of men and women in uniform under compulsion would you be so eager to send them off to fight in stupid conflicts, I think doing so would be unpopular, so it will reduce the risk perhaps of wasting money on pointless conflicts.

 

Now all you have to show is where people are forced by government gunpoint to work.

 

I agree. I'm not saying prison time for those that refuse to join just no public benefits and that also means no civil service jobs or contracts.

 

Do you make a habit of making responses that have absolutely nothing to do with what was said?

 

You are one trying to deflect government force against its citizens with people being forced to work because they have to eat.

 

They also need to take a dump. Is it the job of the Government to give them toilets?

I said nothing about force. If they want to eat, get a job.

Of course, to many people today even cell phones should be paid for by the Government.

 

Of course the draft has been done in the past with varied success. During the Civil War there were massive draft riots in New York City and many were killed and damage was severe. However, during WWI and II the draft went pretty well with men marching peacefully to the recruiter. We had a draft during the Vietnam War and it went alright, but not perfect. There were draft riots and fires set.

We discovered during the VN War that draftees made better troops than the average enlistee. The reason was many enlistees joined as a last resort just to get a job. They were generally low performers. Okay, fine, some made good troops, but as a general rule those who were drafted came from a better cross section of the male population and while possibly unhappy about being drafted they made a better trooper.

As a former drill sergeant I'd rather train enlistees, people who were happy to be there, but truthfully I never worked with draftees. I can only speculate as to what the differences between the two troopers might be.