No Draft is Needed

by Yerusalyim 8 Replies latest jw friends

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  Yerusalyim

  OK,

  Not really JW related, but when has this stopped any of us before. Representative Charlie Rangel has been calling for the draft to be reinstituted. Folks, this just ain't gonna happen. His motives, he admits, is to stir up anti-war sentiment. Yet, his proposal he says is to "benefit the military" by spreading the responsibility. His contention is that the military is made up of minorities and poor white kids who didn't sign up to fight wars, but rather signed up for job opportunities. I can speak from a wealth of experience that he lacks when I say BULLSHI(P)! I'm an Advanced Individual Training (AIT) Instructor. I get these kids right out of basic training, I talk to them. Sure, we have minorities, in fact, African Americans make up almost 25% of the military force. I've not run into a single active duty soldier who looks at the military as a JOB first. Every single one knew coming into this thing that they would likely face combat in their career, even if it was only for a three year hitch.

  Some of the Reserve and National Guard were under the misconception that they wouldn't have to go to war, but the overwhelming vast majority of the reservists and N G's knew coming into this that their primary calling in the military was to deter war, and should that fail to fight and win in combat.

  The military doesn't need a draft, we need more money. Not just higher pay (which would help) but better equipment and more money for training. During the Kosovo campaign we weren't able to employ what would have been our most effective weapon (attack helicopters) because the crews didn't have enough cockpit time, nor had most of them ever flown with a full combat load.

  The volunteer army we have now is a highly effective force. While not disparaging what the drafted armies of WWII Korea, and Veitnam did, the force we have today is generally more highly motivated and for sure more highly educated. In one of the classes I taught recently, over half had some kind of college, fully 1/4 had some type of degree, 3 had Master's Degrees, and on soldier held 3 master's degrees. These soldiers weren't forced to serve for economic reasons, but choose to serve to protected and defend the US.

  Rangel and company, if they want to support the military, need to come up with more money, but they need to stop mudding the waters for political gain.
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  freedom96

  Yeru-

  I love reading your posts and comments. You come from a position of knowing first hand what is going on in the military, and some need to hear it how it really is. Thanks.
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  Shutterbug

  His motives, he admits, is to stir up anti-war sentiment.

  I suspected those were his (Mr Rangles') motives, but I didn't know he had admitted it. The new military seems to rely a lot more on fire power than when I was in back in the late fifties. Desert storm showed what this fire power can accomplish, remember the Iraqi soldiers surrendering after the 30 some days of bombing ?? Better the enemy come under that fire than allied soldiers. Bug
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  back2dafront

  You guys need more money? Steal one of those new 1 billion dollar B2 bombers from the Airforce!

  The amount of money spent on the military is phenomanal - it definitely looks like we have the ability to fight wars with planes and ships now and rely less on troops, which is a good thing. Imagine 50 years from now - war will be like playing a video game!!!

  Yeah, I didn't quite believe that draft talk anyways...what I did get from it is that a) the USA is definitely planning on fighting Iraq b) the possibility for casualties is greater than the Gulf War or Afghanistan.

  good luck,

  back2dafront
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  hybridous

  Yeru, are you familiar with Retired Col. David Hackworth? I've been reading his columns for some time now. What do you think of his opinions? www.hackworth.com
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  heathen

  I for one wouldn't mind them drafting the dope pushers and rapists and such but as long as they leave hardworking tax paying americans alone .
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  Yerusalyim

  Shutterbug,

  Actually, Rangel admitted just that, that he was doing this (promoting the draft) to stir up antiwar sentiment. Watch more Fox News, it was in an interview with OReilly.

  Yep, I've seen Hackworth's stuff, he's a bit of a dove for my tastes, he favors containment which has not worked in the past with Saddam. He's a patriot, but like all these talking heads, he's out of touch with Intelligence, as I am too. I like this Bevelaqua guy, I've actually met and been trained by the former Special Forces Major. Nice guy, he's out of touch with the intel data as well.

  Back2dafront,

  HELL YES we need more money. When I was in Germany we couldn't drive the vehicles in my unit for a 2 hour road trip without 1/8 of them breaking down, this because of lack of funds for spare parts and maintenance. EVERY US soldier should go through Urban and Desert and Jungle warfare training, but we don't have the dollars for it. We need to be able to go out and shoot anytime we want. Most of the skills we train are perishable, if you don't do it often, you lose the edge. This is the biggest complaint you'll hear from professional soldiers, we need more dollars for training, especially our perishable skills. THIS DOESN"T mean you stop your weapons programs either. I want the Airforce to have as many of those 1 billion dollar B2 bombers as they need to get the job done. BUT What Desert Storm and KOSOVO proved was you still can't win war by airpower alone, it takes COMBINED ARMS, that's Army Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, all working in concert with COMPATABILE equipment towards the SAME objective. The Force is moving that way, but we need more money. As a percentage of the Gross National Product the defense budget is smaller now than for ages, we need more money in defense.
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  hillbilly

  the Draft was necessary for military in the past because wars were waged on the priciple of attrition. the only way to win a war based on that premise is to "outlast" the opponent. Of course, the Draft ( conscription) was the easiest way for any goverment to provide cannon fodder for the meatgrinder methods of the time.

  WW2 -- warfare had changed, fast paced attacks, mechanized units, aviation--- technology had begun to take over. Infantry (lots of infantry) was needed for the assaults on Beacheads and to hold the territory as armies advanced. But the statistics tell us ( and I guess I should look em up) that the average combat soldier required the support of several others in clerical or support roles. The draft system paced the supply of manpower feeding a large multi front military operation.

  Wars of attrition have simply passed out of favor. US military doctirne is based on fast attacks using speed and finess. As long as the volume of men voluntering stays adequate the Drafting of millions seems rather impractical. Full Scale Mobilzation ( like WW2) just doesnt seem to be in the near future in my opinion.

  By the way-- the National Guard and Reserve played a major role in the last Persian excursion. They provide a motivated force of well trained citizen warriors with MOS's ranging from Fighter Pilots and Special Forces to janitor. This may make our USMC brothers a little testy but the biggest, sucessful amphibious assault ever was executed by the National Guardsmen. (Normandy)
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  LyinEyes

  Thanks Yeru, for you inside info on things,,,,,,,,,, we only have the media to get us in a panic,,,,,lol. It is cool to hear from the real inside.

  I tell ya what I am so freakin mad tonite,,,,,,,,,, lol...... read my new post you will see... haha , I could go and kick everyones asses tonite....... boy I am pumped. Adrenaline I guess. I sure hope you men who go over there to fight for us,,,,get geeked,,,,,,,,,war is not pretty at all, but survival is.

  I met a lady on new years night, and she and her hubby were from overseas somewhere, it was to loud to hear everything, but they were in town to see family. I got tears in my eyes watching them bring in the new year together dancing,,,, dancing to the songs they played and she had tears in her eyes...... They were an unlikey couple here in the south, she was a African American, he was a redneck,,,, belt buckle and all, and you can tell even thou the cultural difference they had each others hearts..... I got to talk to her a bit and they are great people. I cried when she cried while staring into his eyes,,,,, at the last song, I bet I know she was thinking. She was probably hoping that she and her husband will bring in the next new year together, 2004 and he makes it home safe.

  I wished them good luck and was glad to share the new year with them. I think it takes alot of bravery to give yourself to the military.

  I hope you and your family had a great Xmas Yeru, and I hope Liza is doing better.