Voluntary Military Service

Military service should be voluntary because of the choices and sacrifices the military forces people to make. As a military child I understand what the military service can do to lifestyles, relationships and individuals. The time spent serving in the military can uproot or separate families, friends and destroy those relationships. The places you live and how you live will change. The training, expectations and things the military forces you to do will change people and not always for the best. The military is not for everyone and making service mandatory will cause more problems for our nation and its people than its worth.

During my life I have lived in six different places over sixteen years and have spent years of that time separated from my mother because of the military. Not being able to have a stable environment during my childhood had its pro’s and con’s but the loss of friends and constantly changing schools was still hard. The military had forced my mother to move every three years, take classes that sent her away from her family and survive off of a military pay check. The path that my mother had chosen to take in her career was even one that the military had considered family oriented. This was ok because it was her choice to live this way. However some people are not willing to make these sacrifices because it’s not how they want to spend their life so they shouldn’t be forced to.

Not all people have the strength to serve their country through military service or disciplined enough to be successfully obedient. Also without either of those qualities the zero fail policy is forfeit and that puts our country at risk. To be productive in the military you must be motivated by your own means to fully serve your cou...

... middle of paper ...

...over mandatory military service is not a productive choice. When you send your loved ones off to the military they never come back, the returning person will be different in ways or gone all together. Things that you had before are likely to be gone or changed so severely that it’s foreign to you. The once familiar homes, significant others and children will be different. These are things that are forfeited when a person chooses a life of serving their nation and not everyone can cope with the losses that follow. The military makes no promises and is there to serve its country not foster an environment of comfort for it’s personal. Voluntary service is so important because it gives our citizens the choice to live their lives how they wish to. The consequences of mandatory service would weigh down the collective soul of America, could our country survive the burden?