Will the Military Draft Our Young Adults?

In October 2006, by a vote of 402-2, Congress defeated a bill to make military service mandatory. Since the war in Iraq began, the threat of a draft has loomed over the heads of young adults in this country. With that vote completed, political offices and departments have publicly denied the advent of mandatory service upon U.S. citizens.

Despite the increased refutation, young people across the country still engage in debates on the viability of a draft. The Iraq war has continued for 5 years and with troops still being deployed overseas, the current president shows know sign of discontinuing his efforts.

In an editorial to The Columbian, serving Clark County, Washington, Brady Miletich wrote:

The sound of machine guns firing and grenades blowing up is a [cool] experience if you are playing a video game. Unfortunately, for those taking part in the war in Iraq, this is a scary reality. What is even scarier is any talk of a draft that would not give young men or women a choice in whether they want to join the violence...

.....I do not feel that I should be forced to join a war in which I do not completely understand why we are still fighting. Do not get me wrong, I fully support the troops. I even have family who has been to Iraq. I just do not feel that a draft would be a good idea.

Miletich went on to describe his plans for the future, his college education, and post-education dreams. He, like many young adults across the country, disagrees with any thoughts of mandatory service. With a recent Harrison poll showing that only 28 percent of the country has favorable opinions about the war, it is no wonder that young adults are beginning to worry about the possibility of the draft.

With more troops being requested for deployment over-seas, the lack of resources becomes more apparent. Several young adults like Brady Miletich have expressed their dissatisfaction at the continual calls from military recruiters. Since Congress denied the mandatory service bill, Recruitment by the military has turned into what some consider a bad form of telemarketing.

Young adults have reported that they have been contacted by multiple recruiters each day, sometimes the same recruiter calling four times in a day. This, they comment, does not give them easy feelings about the viability of no upcoming draft. If recruitment by the military has kicked into overdrive, most certainly continued denials by American citizens will lead to a stricter form of filling the ranks of the military.

While the country, and its citizens, have mixed opinions on whether a draft should be reinstated, one of the more interesting point of views brought to the fore is the military strict recruitment policies. In the advent of a draft, those standards for recruitment are lowered due to the need for active military, however, without the draft many willing Americans are rejected due to not fulfilling the high standards of recruitment.

For example, one Michigan resident spoke about his interest in the military. His father served 22 years in the Army and since he was 13, the military has attempted to recruit him, beginning with the Air Force Academy in Colorado. Repeatedly, he was denied entrance to the military due to his eyesight. Vision correction did not meet military standards. Yet he is an expert marksman, a rank/title given to those that can shoot a rifle with high accuracy.

After graduating from high school, the military once again started recruitment procedures and willingly, this Michigan resident applied himself. Passing all the tests with scores higher than average and the best scores in the recruitment class still did not avail him in his attempts to join the military.

When asked his opinion on procedures he stated, "I understand that the military needs to recruit the cream of the crop, the healthiest and most able individuals. However, there is a considerable need for intelligence as well. Sometimes, what one lacks in physical attributes can be well compensated by their intelligence. Not to mention that I can out shoot anyone that was in that room with me and did pass to recruitment."

Given examples like this, many young adults being pursued by the military question why the military would not reconsider the willing applicants before considering a draft of the unwilling. The Selective Service has been quick to respond that there should be no worry of a draft, yet the department is duty-bound to be prepared for its eventuality, therefore it is still required for young adults to register.

Therefore, the questions remain. If the troops in active duty are needing to be relieved and reinforced, and the recruitment rate for the military has dropped since 2004, where then are those reinforcements to be obtained? Despite protestations by government officials, many young people are not reassured. The longer this war continues and troops are deployed, the closer they feel to witnessing mandatory service drafts.