Rep. Rangel Will Seek to Reinstate Draft

[CPT Holzbach]

A draft may or may not be good for the service, but I can tell you (in the Army anyway) a draft would make basic leadership far more challenging for many officers and NCOs. The touchy-feely crap, like time out cards at Basic Training (NOT at Infantry basic) would have to go right out the window. And doctrine would need to catch up with the fact that soldiers are no longer dumb podunk farm boys like in World War 2. Soldiers today are vastly better educated, tech-savvy, and clued in. Go ahead and try to BS a soldier today and see what happens. Oh sure, a new private may not know where to buy chemlight batteries, but he can tell when a leader is BSing him or coddling him. And what we today would call a "rural" person would be an "urban" one back then.

[selil]

So, is there a difference of opinion when it is universal service versus a draft? Considering many of the countries that require everybody to serve in the military for some amount of time just because we don't do it doesn't mean it is a bad (or good) idea. Is it the idea of the lottery (draft) or the idea of forced servitude that causes issues?

[CPT Holzbach]

22 Nov 06, NY Daily News:

The question of whether we need a universal military draft will be important as long as this country is placing thousands of young men and women in harm's way in Iraq. As long as Americans are being shipped off to war, then everyone should be vulnerable, not just those who, because of economic circumstances, are attracted by lucrative enlistment bonuses and educational incentives.

Even before the first bomb was dropped, before the first American casualty, I have opposed the war in Iraq. I continue to believe that decision-makers would never have supported the invasion if more of them had family members in line for deployment.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/idea...p-398444c.html