Destiny Phillips Coats

As of 2015, 321.42 million people inhabit the United States of America. Of those 321.42 million, about 2.3 million people are active duty military, national guard, or reserves as of 2010. This means less than 1% of America’s population makes up its military. The United States of America has the third largest population in the world following China in first and India in second. America is the number 1 global military power out of 126 militaries in the world but is second in active duty population to China. Fifty-five percent of China’s population is actively serving their military. Why is there such a huge difference between two of the top military and global world leaders in the ratio between population and active military? The one-word answer is conscription. Conscription, according to Oxford Dictionaries, is “compulsory enlistment for state service, typically into the armed forces.” Data from 2011 lists 64 countries who are under mandatory conscription, 13 under emergency conscription, and 88 not under any form of conscription. China does indeed require all of their citizens, age 18-24, to serve 2 years in the military. The United States does not require their citizens to serve in the military; however, within 30 days of males’ 18^th birthdays they are required to register for selective service in the military. This means under national emergency, all men are subject to draft into active duty military service. Thus, America falls under the category of emergency conscription. This paper will uncover some pros and cons to required conscription and it will also entertain the question of America operating under the construct of required conscription.

“This we’ll defend” and “Army Strong” are both very popular military slogans known nationally in America. “This we’ll defend” is the official motto of the United States Army and the latter, “Army Strong,” is the official recruiting slogan of the Army. These two phrases suggest key aspects of the army branch of the military that also flow over into the other military branches, reserves, and guards. If things like unity, strength, and protection are all implied by these two slogans alone, what does the military actually say about itself and what it stands for? According to the Web site for the United States Army their motto states, “The U.S. Army’s mission is to fight and win our nation’s wars by providing prompt, sustained land dominance across the full range of military operations and spectrum of conflict in support of combatant commanders.” This is the purpose of our army. To protect our nation, the military is purposed to teach certain skills necessary to be learned so those in the military can protect in the best way possible. Amongst learning how to protect the nation at home and abroad, the military teaches values and skills that will never be learned in the same way anywhere else. By requiring all men to serve the military for a 2-year term, we could strengthen our military, increase jobs, teach survival skills, and core values like honor, respect, and discipline on a mass scale like never before.

Probably the most obvious effect of required conscription is an increase in military size. The number of men turning 18 every year is 4.2 million. In just 5 years, the size of the military could potentially increase by 15%. By requiring conscription there would no longer be a need to advertise for people to join the military; it would be a requirement. Each military branch could then save thousands of dollars yearly spent on advertising and spend that money other places where it is needed. Increasing the size of the military also broadens the variety of people to choose from for certain military positions. By having more people to choose from, the best possible candidates can be chosen to perform certain duties. In the military there is a place for everyone, and an increase in the pool of candidates can thus strengthen weaker areas of the military due to possibly a lack of interest to pursue a military career for that field.

By increasing the number of people in the military, job opportunities would then open for people who might not have had plans before. The military has 12 branches including 5 active duty branches, and seven part-time duty of 5 reserves and 2 guard branches. The military offers numerous jobs from medicine to language translation, teaching to combat training. The military’s jobs are differentiated by branch, active or part-time reserves, then by specific trades/skills. People entering the military have many opportunities to learn valuable life skills, how to stay fit, and choose from a variety of jobs available to them based on their skills. The military also offers many training programs to help skilled tradesman learn a desired craft that might not necessarily pursue a college degree, but through that military training can seek and obtain employment in a specific field due to their training acquired while in service to the military. The branches of the United States military do not merely just make jobs available to people in the service, but they also train and equip those who will leave the service and pursue careers in other organizations through great military training.

A real world example of someone who obtained a job solely through their specific military training is my dad. Like millions of teens upon graduation, my father did not know what he wanted to do with his life. He decided to join the Navy branch of the military. While in the military, he showed skills in areas of mathematics. He received special nuclear science training during his six-year service in the Navy. A little while after exiting the military, he landed a job at Dominion Power and has worked his way up to being a Senior Nuclear Reactor Operator, working alongside or over people who went to universities and obtained engineering degrees, amongst other things, and spent thousands of dollars on that educational training. Now, is my father better or less than those who went to universities because he instead got free training from the military and has obtained a position of equal or more authority? No, but it does mean my dad is a prime example of how the military’s specific training in a certain field can equip men and women to obtain good jobs within and outside the service.

Basic Military Training, or BMT, is another way the military equips people for life by strengthening people physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Sandwiched between enlistment processing and technical training, Basic Military Training is an intense training program designed to prepare you for those times when national requirements place duty ahead of self. Getting the most out of basic training demands your highest level of personal focus, effort and teamwork. You’ll hear us calling it BMT, “summer camp,” and a few other things depending on company. Whatever you call it, get ready for eight and a half weeks that will turn you, at the very least, into a well trained and ready Airman. By graduation, you’ll meet the fitness requirements that make airmen physically durable in almost any situation. Basic Military Training is designed to teach you the critical importance of discipline, teamwork and foundational knowledge you’ll need to succeed as an airman. It will also prepare you physically as a warrior in the profession of arms. Successful completion earns you the privilege of proudly wearing the blue uniform of the most powerful Air Force in the world. Prior to reporting for duty, you should begin your training at home. Following a recommended workout schedule, 3-5 times per week for at least the six weeks before you attend BMT will help you get ready for the challenges you’ll face in basic training and beyond. Basic Military Training will challenge you physically and mentally. You’ll learn to follow instructions, help others and work as a team. You will grow with each success, and you’ll gain confidence in your ability to achieve all of your dreams and goals.

This is a description of BMT from the United States Airforce. It emphasizes teaching values like honor, confidence, personal focus, teamwork, and more. It explains how the trainee will be in great physical shape allowing him to be successful in almost any situation an airman could face while in the service. These character traits gained in training and the physical demand of the 8-week BMT period in the Airforce are very similar to the attributes and physical shape attained after the training in the other BMTs of the other branches of military. A similar focus by all branches of the military just from the first 6-8 weeks upon entrance into the service shows the dedication and the great purpose of the military as a whole along with great intent of the individual branches. If these are all the many great things those in the service will learn right off the bat, how much more will they learn if they stick in the service? Intense training aimed at obtaining honor, trust, teamwork, and dedication will stick with a person throughout the remainder of his life. By requiring all men to join the service for at least a two-year period, these qualities can be potentially instilled in every American male life. These positive characteristics would only benefit the individuals, and because individuals make up a society, they would then benefit American society as a whole.

If conscription were in place in America, all men would come from a similar background. All men would be knowledgeable about national crisis procedures, have elite training in survival, combat, or even a specific skill/trade. It also develops valued characteristics like honor, discipline, teamwork, hard-work, trust, and focus among many other emotional and physical skills. Conscription would increase jobs and strengthen/grow our military. It would give men an opportunity to develop a skill or trade they did not know they had or never considered as a possible career path. Required conscription also helps men with no direction after high school, giving them an opportunity to see where they could possibly fit into society.

All of these are the positive side of conscription, but what are the cons to required conscription? The two most dominant cons to mandatory military service (in my opinion) are it interferes with other forms of education and it could greatly weaken the quality of the nation’s military. A less dominant con (in my opinion) to conscription is it takes away free will.

From about age 5 to 18, children are required by law to attend school. During those developmental years, young people are deciding what it is they would like to do with their lives. After secondary education, young adults are presented with a multitude of opportunities: continue their education at a junior college or university, join the military, go straight into the work force, stay home and do nothing, or be homeless. This is a wide range of options for an 18-year-old to consider. For about 14 years of the majority’s life, a person is in required schooling. The big word here is “required.” For roughly 13 years of peoples’ lives they are required by law to attend school. Graduating from high school and deciding the course of one’s life is the first real opportunity a person has to decide what will occur throughout his life. That is a huge deal. America prides itself on being a free nation comprised of a free people who can choose the course of their lives. Mandatory Military Service takes away this free choice after the transition from child to adult, when the full ability to exercise all rights comes into play — including freedom of choice. Those in opposition of this con would say two years in the grand scheme of things is not a lot of time. Also, required conscription can just be looked at as another two years of required schooling for men.

One of the more pressing cons is the interference with other means of education. Mentioned earlier was the process of thinking/determining what one will do with their life all through their required schooling and especially during one’s high school years. Men who desire to make careers in medicine or specific science fields among other things, are hindered in that process to start on that specific education by conscription. Colleges would then be predominantly female for post-secondary education. Men would also have a late start on jumping straight into the industrial/economic system after high school. The counter argument in favor of conscription would be again, two years in the grand scheme of things is not that much time off. Also in the military, skills training and classes offered for certain jobs can be used as transfer credits dependent upon the program offered within the service. Also, by being a part of the military a person could potentially enjoy the service and consider it as a career path he never otherwise would have thought about.

The last con of mandatory military service is it weakens the quality of military service. Because the military is strictly volunteer based, the mass majority of those who enlist are making their own conscious decision to endure the physical and mental hardships that come with the sacrifice of military service. The majority of these volunteers understand the choice they are making to serve and also have a desire/drive to serve their country. This as a result makes the attitude of most people in the service to be determined to serve in the best way they can for the country. By requiring people to serve in the military, the service could potentially lose the mass majority hard-working attitude typically consistent through all of its trainees. Just like in school, some students do not want to be there, but they have to be there. Many students do not participate whole heartedly, and it is shown through their grades and their behavior at school. Requiring those with a resilient attitude toward conscription/military service could potentially cause a rise in military unproductivity and poor quality of certain troops/regimes/branches etc. The counter to this argument is that similarly to school, a set standard must be obtained while in the military during the required conscription. If that standard is not upheld, that person can be dishonorably discharged from the military, similar to being expelled from school.  Similar to the negative repercussions of an expulsion on a transcript, there would definitely be negative repercussions to being dishonorably discharged from the service. This would give incentive to those in the service to at least perform well for that required conscription period out of fear of negative repercussions on their record.

Lots of pros and a few important cons have been laid out to better understand conscription and its benefits to a society. It opens opportunity to learn, develop skills and character traits, build unity within a nation, but it also is a big sacrifice. It takes away two years of a young man’s pursuit of his personal career to serve his country and potentially risk his life. That is a hard thing to come to grips with voluntarily and would be immensely harder to understand involuntarily. This is a situation where a decision can only be made by seeing whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, and that is for the American people to decide.

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