Mandatory military service: Would it make a difference?

Just that in the land of the free, mandatory service / involuntary servitude just seems so out of place. Quite an ironic that "freedom" loving people would want to impose 2 years in the military on everyone.
 
The wars in Iraq/Afghan were popular with most everyone until politicians who, for solely political purposes, decided that the war wasn't convenient to their re-election campaigns

Iraq/Afghan were popular what 10 years ago when they started but those wars that last over a decade can be quite drag on a politician's re-election campaigns

Very true, but anyone who really thought that these wars were going to be over in a couple of years were only kidding themselves. I understand that wars lasting 8-10 years, or more, can drain a lot of political "willingness" to finish the job, but finishing the job iin the right way is the right thing to do. To just pull out of the war in a risky way or institute ridiculous ROE because the war has become a political football creates an inordinate amount of problems for those on the battlefield, as well as those coming home from the front. If DC would just allow the generals to take care of the fight rather than allowing politicians to tell the military what to do, we'd have won the war......and likely have been out of there years ago.

Heard the same complaint about Vietnam.....
The better solution would have been never to have been involved.
 
Most nitwits pushing for everyone to play soldier never joined the military themselves and couldn't get past boot camp either.

Most people don't run a 1.5 run, do push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups.

The military isn't going to cut out that stuff just so that everyone can play tin soldier. The military actually needs people that aren't going to die in battle just from carrying a 50lbs IBA on their body.
 
Just that in the land of the free, mandatory service / involuntary servitude just seems so out of place. Quite an ironic that "freedom" loving people would want to impose 2 years in the military on everyone.

What I find ironic are those who constantly hold up other countries as somehow superior to the USA in just about every area.....social issues, healthcare, etc....but they forget that most of those countries also expect most everyone of age to participate in military service for a brief period of time. Well, if these other countries are so great and they require members of society to fulfill military service, then why is it such a bad thing for the USA to do? There is a saying....freedom isn't free. Truer words were never spoken.
 
Iraq/Afghan were popular what 10 years ago when they started but those wars that last over a decade can be quite drag on a politician's re-election campaigns

Very true, but anyone who really thought that these wars were going to be over in a couple of years were only kidding themselves. I understand that wars lasting 8-10 years, or more, can drain a lot of political "willingness" to finish the job, but finishing the job iin the right way is the right thing to do. To just pull out of the war in a risky way or institute ridiculous ROE because the war has become a political football creates an inordinate amount of problems for those on the battlefield, as well as those coming home from the front. If DC would just allow the generals to take care of the fight rather than allowing politicians to tell the military what to do, we'd have won the war......and likely have been out of there years ago.

Heard the same complaint about Vietnam.....
The better solution would have been never to have been involved.

Doesn't make it any less true. Politicians have no place in managing a war. Generals are trained for many years to manage military conflict....politicians are trained to lie their asses off about anything and everything and to generally screw things up from the get go. So, it stands to reason that our wars get completely screwed up because politicians are running the show. There are people on all sides of Vietnam...those who say it was right to go in, those who say it was wrong to go in, and those who say we went in for the right reasons but weren't allowed to do what we needed to do to win.
 
Just that in the land of the free, mandatory service / involuntary servitude just seems so out of place. Quite an ironic that "freedom" loving people would want to impose 2 years in the military on everyone.

What I find ironic are those who constantly hold up other countries as somehow superior to the USA in just about every area.....social issues, healthcare, etc....but they forget that most of those countries also expect most everyone of age to participate in military service for a brief period of time. Well, if these other countries are so great and they require members of society to fulfill military service, then why is it such a bad thing for the USA to do? There is a saying....freedom isn't free. Truer words were never spoken.

The other countries don't claim to be the Land of the Free either!
 
Politicians have no place in managing a war. Generals are trained for many years to manage military conflict....politicians are trained to lie their asses off about anything and everything and to generally screw things up from the get go.
In a perfect world, Generals are trained for many years to manage military conflict and nothing more.
However, we do not live in a perfect world and since Vietnam Generals have tried their best to become politicians, the sad thing is they have succeeded at it.
 
Most nitwits pushing for everyone to play soldier never joined the military themselves and couldn't get past boot camp either.

Most people don't run a 1.5 run, do push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups.

The military isn't going to cut out that stuff just so that everyone can play tin soldier. The military actually needs people that aren't going to die in battle just from carrying a 50lbs IBA on their body.

Most people who would be considered truly unfit for duty would be weeded out by MEPS or during boot camp. There will always be some who don't belong and get missed until later on, but that's the way it is. Most people going into boot camp anyway have not been doing any PT, so boot camp in and of itself is a rude awakening....and a big motivator to get someone heading in the right direction, one way or the other. The draft in Vietnam wouldn't be the same as the draft we'd have today anyway. And if you want to look at "voluntary" personnel, exactly how many service members are in the military today because they felt they "had to"....economic problems, couldn't make it into college, didn't want to live with mom and dad anymore?? Thousands joined the military for those reasons alone....not any different than being drafted.
 
Just that in the land of the free, mandatory service / involuntary servitude just seems so out of place. Quite an ironic that "freedom" loving people would want to impose 2 years in the military on everyone.

What I find ironic are those who constantly hold up other countries as somehow superior to the USA in just about every area.....social issues, healthcare, etc....but they forget that most of those countries also expect most everyone of age to participate in military service for a brief period of time. Well, if these other countries are so great and they require members of society to fulfill military service, then why is it such a bad thing for the USA to do? There is a saying....freedom isn't free. Truer words were never spoken.

The other countries don't claim to be the Land of the Free either!

No, they don't......and I find that rather interesting, seeing as how those who insist on these other countries being so much better yet make the decision to live in a "free" country like the USA. What is this strange pull toward non-freedom by liberals?
 
And if you want to look at "voluntary" personnel, exactly how many service members are in the military today because they felt they "had to"....economic problems, couldn't make it into college, didn't want to live with mom and dad anymore?? Thousands joined the military for those reasons alone....not any different than being drafted.

Very very Different.......
They still have a choice......
In a draft, you do not have a choice.
 
Weed out those with mental problems? That is a small percentage of the gun crime.

Why don't you Leftists ever come up with a plan to stop that majority of all gun murders which are committed by black men - who are just 6% of the population?

A) And 100% of mass murders, dingbat...

B) We did- see Dem platform, racist. LOL
 
What is this strange pull toward non-freedom by liberals?

You tell me, you are the one advocating taking away a persons freedom and forcing them to do a 2 year stint of mandatory service in the military.
 
Politicians have no place in managing a war. Generals are trained for many years to manage military conflict....politicians are trained to lie their asses off about anything and everything and to generally screw things up from the get go.
In a perfect world, Generals are trained for many years to manage military conflict and nothing more.
However, we do not live in a perfect world and since Vietnam Generals have tried their best to become politicians, the sad thing is they have succeeded at it.

It has nothing to do with it being a perfect world. The fact of the matter is that generals have been trained for years to manage military conflict and because of this they are the more capable of managing military matters, whereas politicians are not trained at all but assume the right to make military decisions. What's sad is not that military leaders run for office, though I certainly wouldn't advise it, but instead we have actors/actresses from Hollywood who now sit in Congress and act as Governors. Beyond stupid. And the media has made a complete mockery of our political system, as if it wasn't already bad enough. Yet the liberals think this is a great idea.....
 
And if you want to look at "voluntary" personnel, exactly how many service members are in the military today because they felt they "had to"....economic problems, couldn't make it into college, didn't want to live with mom and dad anymore?? Thousands joined the military for those reasons alone....not any different than being drafted.

Very very Different.......
They still have a choice......
In a draft, you do not have a choice.

No, not at all different. If you don't have a job or can't get one, then the military looks like a good option even if you don't want to join. Better to have a cot and 3 squares per day instead of having no where to live and not sure where your next meal is coming from. Happens all the time.
 
1) The military is being downsized right now because it costs $$$$ to pay them. Adding more military paychecks to the national debt isn't going to fly.

2) The military has better things to do than stretch out boot camp so more people can pass. It also can't spend its time putting people in jail and court martial for all the crimes they do outside the military today.

3) The military needs a perfect sized personnel force with a strong technical weapons force to kill as many bad guys when needed and to scare them in the first place from doing something.

The US Army actually looking like Bill Murray's Stripes would actually cause more wars by emboldening our enemies.

Most nitwits pushing for everyone to play soldier never joined the military themselves and couldn't get past boot camp either.

Most people don't run a 1.5 run, do push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups.

The military isn't going to cut out that stuff just so that everyone can play tin soldier. The military actually needs people that aren't going to die in battle just from carrying a 50lbs IBA on their body.

Most people who would be considered truly unfit for duty would be weeded out by MEPS or during boot camp. There will always be some who don't belong and get missed until later on, but that's the way it is. Most people going into boot camp anyway have not been doing any PT, so boot camp in and of itself is a rude awakening....and a big motivator to get someone heading in the right direction, one way or the other. The draft in Vietnam wouldn't be the same as the draft we'd have today anyway. And if you want to look at "voluntary" personnel, exactly how many service members are in the military today because they felt they "had to"....economic problems, couldn't make it into college, didn't want to live with mom and dad anymore?? Thousands joined the military for those reasons alone....not any different than being drafted.
 
What is this strange pull toward non-freedom by liberals?

You tell me, you are the one advocating taking away a persons freedom and forcing them to do a 2 year stint of mandatory service in the military.

Service to country isn't a bad thing and people may actually learn something valuable. There are lots of things that liberals are doing that take away people's freedoms at this point, yet they don't like the idea of doing a 2 year military service?? Hypocritical to me.....
 
1) The military is being downsized right now because it costs $$$$ to pay them. Adding more military paychecks to the national debt isn't going to fly.

2) The military has better things to do than stretch out boot camp so more people can pass. It also can't spend its time putting people in jail and court martial for all the crimes they do outside the military today.

3) The military needs a perfect sized personnel force with a strong technical weapons force to kill as many bad guys when needed and to scare them in the first place from doing something.

The US Army actually looking like Bill Murray's Stripes would actually cause more wars by emboldening our enemies.

Most nitwits pushing for everyone to play soldier never joined the military themselves and couldn't get past boot camp either.

Most people don't run a 1.5 run, do push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups.

The military isn't going to cut out that stuff just so that everyone can play tin soldier. The military actually needs people that aren't going to die in battle just from carrying a 50lbs IBA on their body.

Most people who would be considered truly unfit for duty would be weeded out by MEPS or during boot camp. There will always be some who don't belong and get missed until later on, but that's the way it is. Most people going into boot camp anyway have not been doing any PT, so boot camp in and of itself is a rude awakening....and a big motivator to get someone heading in the right direction, one way or the other. The draft in Vietnam wouldn't be the same as the draft we'd have today anyway. And if you want to look at "voluntary" personnel, exactly how many service members are in the military today because they felt they "had to"....economic problems, couldn't make it into college, didn't want to live with mom and dad anymore?? Thousands joined the military for those reasons alone....not any different than being drafted.

Well who is saying that a draft is going to take place any time soon?? I think you're over-reacting a little. The downsizing of the military isn't a good thing, imo. Stretching out boot camp wasn't even mentioned, so not at all sure where you're coming from that angle. Bill Murray's Stripes Army would "cause" more wars??? lol... You really are over-reacting.....
 
Boot camp would need to extend by 2-4 weeks to increase the passing % rate.

The Bill Murray US Army was actually what we had from the Carter era, a dysfunctional group that wasn't really ready to fight the USSR.

A military full of Bill Murray platoons would increase the odds of China, Iran, etc doing something especially when the weapon systems would be cut to fund this increase in dumb personnel on the payroll.....less bombs and more people doesn't make the military stronger.

1) The military is being downsized right now because it costs $$$$ to pay them. Adding more military paychecks to the national debt isn't going to fly.

2) The military has better things to do than stretch out boot camp so more people can pass. It also can't spend its time putting people in jail and court martial for all the crimes they do outside the military today.

3) The military needs a perfect sized personnel force with a strong technical weapons force to kill as many bad guys when needed and to scare them in the first place from doing something.

The US Army actually looking like Bill Murray's Stripes would actually cause more wars by emboldening our enemies.

Most people who would be considered truly unfit for duty would be weeded out by MEPS or during boot camp. There will always be some who don't belong and get missed until later on, but that's the way it is. Most people going into boot camp anyway have not been doing any PT, so boot camp in and of itself is a rude awakening....and a big motivator to get someone heading in the right direction, one way or the other. The draft in Vietnam wouldn't be the same as the draft we'd have today anyway. And if you want to look at "voluntary" personnel, exactly how many service members are in the military today because they felt they "had to"....economic problems, couldn't make it into college, didn't want to live with mom and dad anymore?? Thousands joined the military for those reasons alone....not any different than being drafted.

Well who is saying that a draft is going to take place any time soon?? I think you're over-reacting a little. The downsizing of the military isn't a good thing, imo. Stretching out boot camp wasn't even mentioned, so not at all sure where you're coming from that angle. Bill Murray's Stripes Army would "cause" more wars??? lol... You really are over-reacting.....
 

Forum List

Back
Top