Do you think the USA should initiate the SSS again?

Question

Selective Service System or, as commonly refered to, the Draft.

I am a Vet, served voluntarily from 1967 to 1971. And Proud to have served at a time when it was "frowned upon."

Peace and Love

Answer 1

I like the all voluntary military. I've always been opposed to the draft because I've felt it was wrong to force someone to fight against their conscience, AND I would never want to be saddled with someone next to me in combat who wasn't there of their own free will. However, it seems to me that there are an awful lot of people who don't appreciate the sacrifices others have made for their freedoms and therefore maybe some sort of compulsory government service should be required. But then...if it wasn't in the military I don't know that they'd ever get it.

Answer 2

I would say no, unless there was a dire need for them. Dire meaning a war breaks out like in North Korea or Iran, and they're just going all out with nukes and everything.

A draft during a conflict like Vietnam is bad news. But if Americans die in a really deliberate attack, and there was a real need for soldiers, such as during World War 2 (boy did the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor piss off many Americans), I bet you that many, many Americans would willingly volunteer, or at least wouldn't object to being drafted.

Short of that though, I'd have to say no, because like others have pointed out, the ones that are drafted most likely won't want to be there, and unless the government closes these loopholes, the rich and well off will largely get to avoid fighting, while the "poor man" and "blue collar" people will get the bulk of the stresses of war put on them (this was a big complaint that many of the protesters during Vietnam had, because the rich had ways of avoiding a draft, while the poorer men generally got sent to SE Asia and suffered all those things that happened there. That's not to say that it happened exactly this way for everyone, but I bet that in the majority of the cases, it did).

Right now, not everyone agrees with us being in Iraq. I have to question the motives for going there as well, but I'll stand behind the government (cause Saddam wasn't exactly a saintly ruler after all), and the troops who are there now, struggling to give the Iraqi's more freedom than they had under Saddam.

Again, if something big were to happen (for example, if 9/11 was done by a country, and not just some nutcases, then I bet more Americans would've signed up), then I'm sure that many would be more likely to join and serve proudly.

Answer 3

As the saying goes, thank you for your service. There are times when I think it would be a good idea for everyone to serve, like a lot of countries do. I, too, served, from 1974-94. However, I feel the volunteer military filters out most of the members who don't want to make the sacrifices required. The draft didn't exactly bring a lively willing group to the military ranks. I, personally, would feel better about dying for my country if I volunteered than if my country dragged me in feet first, kicking and screaming. Plus, like anything else, you're more apt to perform better if you volunteer. After all, as a volunteer you're only there because of your personal choice, not because someone pulled your number. That makes a big difference in how you get through each day.

Answer 4

We are way beyond drafting. Although it is understandable to consider such a thing, being from a military family, i know for a fact that the military has acually had to cut many people. I am not sure why though..
anyway, there are many teenagers just graduating that have every intention of enetering the military. There is a huge amount of men and women willing to fight for this country. I would only draft in the most extreme situation, which, although the current circumstances, is not this period of time.
Will we come to drafting though? Maybe..it all depends on the willingness of Americans.

Answer 5

The Selective Service System is alive and well.

The draft is a non-issue.

The military does not wish to re-institute the draft.

The US Congress does not wish to re-institute the draft. Even Charlie Rangel who has sponsored legislation to re-institute the draft voted against his own bill when the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives brought the bill to a floor vote. It lost 400 to 3 with 32 abstentions.

Finally the American public does not have any desire to re-institute the draft

Our all volunteer military is doing just fine.

InIt2WinIt

Answer 6

Drafted soldiers are more likely to get themselves killed, because they generally receive less training, and they don't really want to be there, which means the war becomes more and more unpopular as the casualties get higher. Drafting soldiers is also incredibly expensive, cause they all have to be fed, clothed and sheltered with government money, instead of their own.

The chances are that a lot of the people who would be proud and happy to serve their country already are in the forces, so forcing people who don't want to be there when the country isn't under a direct threat will make them very angry - and angry men who won't follow orders, with the best military hardware in the world spell serious trouble.

Answer 7

Yes. Everyone should be required to serve thier country in some capacity. Thats not to say it has to be in a military service. Although I think the military is an excellent tool to prepare young people for life. There are many many lessons that the military teaches that would benefit the spoiled, undisiplined, lazy, demanding youth we have today.

Answer 8

TY for your service. Tell me, do you think any terrorist in the world would face our Marines in a fair fight? I do not. I also think a terrorist would not even face the average American in a fair fight. I think Terrorist do the dirty work behind our backs because they are cowards. Just like in Nam. No different. We lost 58,000 of Americas best in that war and in the end we seemed to have not learned that Guerrilla warfare can not be won. Remember the sticks they pounded in the ground in the rice fields?
As to your question, we have a draft now, it's called the guard. Bush changed the age limit from 35 to 42 for the Army, Bush is 80,000 short on new grunts this year alone.
BTW, a year in Afghanistan and a year in Iraq is not one weekend per month State side.

Answer 9

I think it's great when people volunteer for military service, and I'm grateful for all the people who have served in our military. However, I'm not in favor of the draft. To me, it almost seems like a form of slavery, that the goverment can haul you away from your life and force you to do something you didn't want to.
We have all volunteer armed services now and I think it's working great!

Answer 10

yes most definitley. We nedd to deal with n korea and iran now and we need many troops and all our most technically advanced weopons time to unvail those in secret by using them on n korea and iran as we unfortanley had to do with japan