Mandatory Military Draft Essay

Also known as conscription, the draft is a system for selecting young men for compulsory military service, administered in the United States by the Selective Service System (“Draft”). In 1973, the last draft that the United States administered came to a close. Since then, there has been debates on whether the country should institute it again. Many civilians do not know enough about it to make educated opinions on the matter. Although the draft may seem like a confusing and or scary operation, it is very organized and set up in a professional manner.

Conscription has been used two times before in United States history. On September 16, 1940, the United States instituted the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, which required all men

between the ages of 21 and 45 to register for the draft (“Research Starters: The Draft and World War II”). World War II was the cause of this draft. Fighting had not officially began when the first set of draftees were required to register; our country was in peace at the time. Those selected were required to serve at least a one year term, however term length extended as the intensity of WWII increased over time. By the end of the war in 1945, fifty million men ages eighteen through forty-five had been registered and ten million of those were inducted (“Research Starters: The Draft and World War II”). About fifteen years later, another draft was instituted due to the Vietnam War. It lasted for about four years and created much controversy and resulted in many anti-draft organizations. However, the United States would not have came out with victory if the young men inducted stayed home and the military relied on volunteers.
US Military is a strictly volunteer organization in today’s society. A draft has not been utilized for forty-five years. With relative peace in the US, there are about 1.4 million active duty personnel. If need be, for larger operations the military would call in reserve forces, like Fort McCoy. In a major conflict, the United States may even institute the draft, drawing soldiers from the general civilian population (Harris). However, the government does not simply send anyone. A process done by the Selective Service System aids in selecting who must register and who is inducted to the military; they are in charge of overseeing the draft if ever reinstated. In times of peace, the SSS works to create a draftee pool that is made up of male U.S residents between the ages of 18 and 25. Eligible people are required to register within thirty days of eligibility, usually right after turning eighteen. Potential draftees who fail to do so may be prosecuted by the government. However, not every male between that age group is eligible. Exceptions would include men who are actively serving in the military, men who are attending a military service academy or select university military officer procurement program, foreign citizens in the United States on valid student, visitor or diplomatic visas, certain foreign agricultural workers, men who are confined to a hospital or psychiatric institution, handicapped men who cannot function in public, inmates, and women. Debates arise from certain rules when selecting draftees. A major one is the exception of women, especially in this highly feminist day and age. Rules state that the SSS will only select men unless given the mission and modest resources to lift the regulation. Other questions about the guidelines are about non-citizens and dual nationals and parental or marital status. For non-citizens and dual nationals, most are required to register and are able to be eligible for induction with few exceptions. For parents, if their child was conceived before the draft date, they are moved to Class 3-A or hardships to dependents, and for marital status it changes nothing. Taking all of these factors into consideration, the Selective Service System holds the National Draft Lottery, a system developed by National Institute of Standards and Technology (Harris). A computer system prints out every date in the current year in a random order and places in small capsules. It also prints out numbers one through 365, 366 in a leap year, in a random order and places them in small capsules. The capsules are separated into two drums. Starting with men twenty years of age, a drawing, usually broadcasted widely, of a date and a number is performed. For example, if April 22 and number 42 is drawn, all men turning 20 on April 22 will be the 42nd group to receive induction notices (Harris). This selection continues until the draft is no longer needed within the major conflict. However, the draft is still a questionable process and may or may not be used in the years to come.
Within the debate of whether to bring the draft back or not, there are many pros and cons to the situation.

Beginning with the cons, the military draft can take away precious time from the youth considering they are drafted so young. However, not all of them are on the younger side leaving some with families that could be corrupted if sent away. Continuing on, not all drafted soldiers are as competent as professional soldiers that went through training after they volunteered. This leads to questioning why the government should be spending more money on compulsory service. Overall, people on the opposing side of the draft believe it is one of the ways to strengthen the military that should be avoided (“List of 12 Key Pros and Cons of Military Draft”). Progressing into the pro side of things, the draft would assure national security. The country would be safer since there would be enough jobs, reducing unemployment. Not only that but being in the military is creates equality and diversity, is contributory to building character, and a great way to travel and learn new cultures. Also, politically, politicians with children who’d be included in a military draft would most likely create less of a chance for abrupt decisions in getting into war (“List of 12 Key Pros and Cons of Military Draft”). As described, one can see the difficulty in the decision that the government has on their

shoulders.
The draft and how it works is very professional and organized even though many people may be confused of how it works from maleducation on the subject. A major question in the military and government is whether or not to bring the draft back and how it would impact our society today. With the information presented in this essay, where do you stand in the debate? Do you believe the government should institute the draft in the event of a conflict?