The Draft
There is pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills: S 89 and HR 163) which will time the program's initiation so the draft can begin at early as Spring 2005 — just after the 2004 presidential election. The administration is quietly trying to get these bills passed now, while the public's attention is on the elections, so our action on this is needed immediately.
$28 million has been added to the 2004 Selective Service System (SSS) budget to prepare for a military draft that could start as early as June 15, 2005. Selective Service must report to Bush on March 31, 2005 that the system, which has lain dormant for decades, is ready for activation. Please see website: www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html to view the sss annual performance plan — fiscal year 2004.
The pentagon has quietly begun a public campaign to fill all 10,350 draft board positions and 11,070 appeals board slots nationwide.. Though this is an unpopular election year topic, military experts and influential members of congress are suggesting that if Rumsfeld's prediction of a "long, hard slog" in Iraq and Afghanistan [and a permanent state of war on "terrorism"] proves accurate, the U.S. may have no choice but to draft.
Congress brought twin bills, S. 89 and HR 163 forward this year, entitled the Universal National Service Act of 2003, "to provide for the common defense by requiring that all young persons [age 18-26] in the United States, including women, perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes." These active bills currently sit in the committee on armed services.
Dodging the draft will be more difficult than those from the Vietnam era.
College and Canada will not be options. In December 2001, Canada and the U.S. signed a "smart border declaration," which could be used to keep would-be draft dodgers in. Signed by Canada's minister of foreign affairs, John Manley, and U.S. Homeland Security director, Tom Ridge, the declaration involves a 30-point plan which implements, among other things, a "pre-clearance agreement" of people entering and departing each country. Reforms aimed at making the draft more equitable along gender and class lines also eliminates higher education as a shelter. Underclassmen would...
... middle of paper ...
...rs rather small at this point, and President Bush has stated that there will be no resumption of the draft during his presidency. Still, conditions and attitudes can change very quickly — another event of the magnitude of the September 11 attacks could prompt some rapid shifts in government policy and public opinion.
Last updated: 6 October 2004
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/draft.asp
Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2005 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
This material may not be reproduced without permission.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sources:
Gross, Karen. "Feel the Draft."
Philadelphia City Paper. 20 September 2001.
Hulse Carl. "Bill to Restore the Draft Is Defeated in the House."
The New York Times. 6 October 2004.
Kelly, Jack. "Rumor Aside, Draft's Return Most Unlikely."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 24 May 2004.
Lindorff, Dave. "Oiling up the Draft Machine?"
Salon.com. 3 November 2003.
Associated Press. "Selective Service Notice Creates Flurry of Press Reports Suggesting Return of Draft."
USA Today. 10 November 2003.
The draft is something young men fear and crave. Some fear they will lose everything, die or just not be the same if they get picked. I have met young men who cannot be in the military due to family issues, so the draft would come as a blessing. The draft is also very random, so both of those boys' chances of getting picked is also very slim. The draft reminds me of The Reaping from The Hunger Games, we pick your name out of a bowl and the magic of selection will decide if you go or not. Then your skill set will determine how long you live in battle. May the odds be ever in your favor, and don't forget that you're and accountant and have no hand-eye coordination! There are plenty of volunteers in America that will gladly serve our country if we need more soldiers, I personally think the wars have past their expiration date, and there are other jobs people can do
Generally, reinstating the Constitutional draft would solidify the meaning of being an American citizen. Often, wealthier and more privileged people are able to ask for exemption from serving, which makes representation of soldiers in combat composed of less-privileged citizens. With compulsory conscription, all American citizens, men or women, ages 18-26 are subject to be recruited for the armed forces. In fact, only 4 members of the 107th Congress who voted in favor of the Iraq war had children serving there. Politicians would know how it feels to have loved ones in a war, instead of freely speaking about wartime without experiencing it in any way.1 Moreover, Americans feel that public support for war in foreign countries is not strong because the soldiers fighting are p...
Under United States draft law, certain guidelines must be followed to allow men to be...
A draft is a form of a social obligations that is just not an ordinary obligation, but it is a legal one. The government is behind it which means that the government has the right to draft you into war whether you agree with it or not. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien was trapped between the sword and the wall on the decision of going to war or escaping the draft by going to Canada. He had to choose whether or not to risk his life for the sake of his country and family. Throughout the chapter entitled “On the Rainy River” Tim O’Brien tells us the readers how hard was for him to make a decision of whether to go or not. Tim O’Brien puts us on his position by asking rhetorical questions such as “What would you do?” “Would
Now, the U.S. military consists entirely of volunteer soldiers, and the draft has been discontinued, though while being discontinued, Government requests that all citizens sign for national service when they come of age to enlist. In common vernacular this means that government wants all citizens to sign what is essentially a draft form when our draft has been disbanded; this legal document will force some citizens to work for the government in a way remarkably similar to the draft. (Hasbrouck)
Before improvements in the draft system in 1971, there were many excuses for deferments. Draft boards were not representative in terms of race and national origin within the communities they served, and the lottery system left draftees in suspense for almost seven years.1 For these reasons, the draft system was inefficient, leading to much disapproval among the people. The Selective Service System had the right idea, but it needed some modifications.
“Through out most of their history, Americans freely defended their nation from threats both domestic and foreign. Only in their greatest conflicts - the Civil War, World War I, and the lead - up to World War II” (Forbes) they had to implement the draft. A draft, "called conscription in most countries, is the process by which the United States has, in the past, gathered members of its military. Generally, a man called to serve through the draft would serve for two to four years" (Rich). "Toward the end of the increasingly-unpopular Vietnam War, President Nixon led efforts to end the draft and create an all-volunteer military"(Nyden). The difference between a draft and an all-volunteer army is based on the quality, decisions, and the money.
Over forty years has passed since the United States inducted the last draftee through the Selective Service System. The Selective Service System is an independent agency of the United States, which gives the President the right or power to conscript men for military service. There have been different Acts passed by congress since 1917 that require men of various ages to register for service. Although, the name of each Act and the age requirements of the registries changed, the Acts were all similar in nature. They all gave the President the right to call men to war when he deemed necessary. In January 1973, Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announced the creation of the all-volunteer service, retracting the need for the draft (GAO.gov). Under current law, all men between the ages of 18-25 must register within 30 days of their 18th birthday, however this information is used mostly for recruitment purposes and in case of any future crisis. There has been much controversy over this matter since the Vietnam War, when people started to realize the draft was unfair due to loopholes and draft exemptions making the draft unfair for working men. At one point in time the military draft may have been necessary, but today’s all-volunteer military has eliminated the need for a draft.
Kennedy, C. Robert. “How To Escape The Draft.” New York Times: On This Day. accessed September 12, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0801.html.
Imagine a big war has suddenly broke out with America and another country. The military suddenly realizes that in order to better their army and be stronger, they need more people to join and fight along with them. The military decides their needs to be a draft. However, men are the only ones eligible to be apart of the draft. Should this be something that should be changed with the military? Should women also be apart of the draft?
The United States should not reinstate the draft in order to save money, to lower stress, and to allow for a more effective military. In order to maintain a stable army the government needs to have the mental and physical ability to tolerate the stress and physical conditions. Paying volunteer soldiers proves less expensive than compensating millions of unwilling servicemen. When drafting people they will expect more of a return for serving their personal time. Forcing these training cadres to put up with the recruits makes their stress levels raise. These ranks already have to worry about 2,600,000 enlisted people, not including active duty soldiers. Coming from an enlisted soldier in the army, why would a volunteer soldier want to fight along
Conscription, also known as drafting, is a practice that requires mandatory enlisting into any of the branches of the armed forces. This practice has been adopted by the United States at the very least two times before and from what I can remember during World War II and the Civil War conscription was being practiced. Nowadays conscription is not practiced in the United States because there isn’t a need for it. Now, if you want to join the army you can do so by volunteering. However, there are people who believe conscription should be brought back. Some people believe that the drafting of younger people might help these young people develop useful skills and cultivate a sense of unity and national pride. Although all of these are valid reasons,
...hletes recruited to attend college come from lower, working-class families. The opportunity to enter the draft early to help their families financially is one that will hardly be passed by.
Every American is Free, and because of many others, are safe. They are able to lay their head down on a pillow and go to sleep knowing that they aren’t going to be shot by soldiers of a different country in their sleep. They don’t have to hide inside their houses and watch fighter vehicles crawl by and wonder if they are going to live to see the sun rise the next day. They are safe because there are men and women over in different countries killing those that threaten our existence. If there was ever a debate about reinstating the draft, I think the answer would be yes, do it because there would be that many more people fighting to keep us safe, those that maybe debated it before would go through with it, and the troubled teens that rebel against
Bamburg, J, Re: Draft: Education in America: Current Issues and Future Opportunities [Web post]. Retrieved January 29, 2011 from http://home.avvanta.com/~building/trans/