conscription and selective service

[Bucky Ball]

Right now, ONLY men have to register, (in the US) when they are 18, or they can't get student loans or government employment.
Yeah, they still do that. Only men.... blatant discrimination. The first thing that has to happen, is that everyone should do something.
They don't then, have to all volunteer for combat.

[tackattack]

Having to register is not having to serve, which is my point. Everyone should do something, everyone should get the opportunity to serve their country. Everyone should know what it's like to be a team and dependent on the guy next to you. I agree that it's a strong bastion for sexism but requiring everyone to do some time would help break that down, I believe. There might need to be a few more exemptions and qualifiers added, but I think generally it would be beneficial.

[Fireball]

You don't have to tell the rank and file that, lol.  Those guys are fuckin crazy.  "You want me to do what?!"  -not for a commemorative coin you senile piece a shit.

Yeah, what's up with all those coins? Kind of like Pokemons or something.

I knew when I was 12 that I'd join the Navy some day. Never regretted it. And "incentives" back then was "not being drafted into the USMC."

When I joined, Viet Nam was a going concern. Join the Marines? Go to Nam and get shot. Join the Army, go to Nam and get shot. Join the AF? Go to Nam and get shot down. Join the Navy? Well, one could still get shot. Naive thinking it was in those days. So I was going to go submarines until I saw how small they were inside, and some of them submerge for months. I've too big an affinity for being able to see that great 100W bulb in the sky for that. I missed out on a lot of that, just by being in the engine room most of the time.

Forgot to multiquote tack in- I know Coasties who worked drug interdiction, which is every bit as much mortal combat as any other branch of service, intercepting drug shippers who were heavily armed.

I will personally agree that some sort of government service should be mandatory. I know from personal experience that learning to follow orders would help a lot of people in later life. Those who served generally get the job done more often than those who did not.

[Minimalist]

forced conscription for min

I'm too fucking old for that shit.

[tackattack]

I'm not saying coasties don't see the fight. I know for a fact they do, I work with them regularly on those busts. I believe all branches do. I was just distinguishing from the folks that secure our state and national boarders and those that go out and get the bad guys in their homes with bombs, garrotes, guns and what not.

[Minimalist]

Sometimes we even hit the right target.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017...wrong.html

An American gunship hit a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, last year, killing 42 people.

but not always.

[tackattack]

They should've used georegistered map data and a drone eye in the sky.

[Minimalist]

"Heat of battle,"  "fog of war,"  all that shit.

[Cato]

I was a Submariner and like others prefer an all volunteer force. In addition to the effectiveness and discipline concerns, draftees are far less likely to reenlist which exacerbates training and readiness. Perhaps more simplistic I disagree with conscription simply because it's antithetical to a society that values individual liberty.

Selective Service may be a means of identifying those eligible for a future draft, but seem to remember reading somewhere that up to 70% of the population between the ages of 18 and 35 would be unfit for service for various reasons. This is so inefficient that Selective Service should also be abolished.

If military leadership thinks they have a readiness issue, then a potential solution is to increase the voluntary inactive reserves. If the military has an issue attracting volunteers then they should offer more in compensation and benefits.

[tackattack]

because I'd love to have someone next to me in the line that is just there because they're being paid to be there or they wanted an opportunity for an education. </sarcasm> I disagree, I think that breeds cowardice and is anti-thematic to the desired outcome, which is a reliable and well trained troops that want to serve protect people and their country. At least when you force people into it, they'll either get used to the idea or intentionally try and get kicked out, which isn't hard.