Could The U.S. benefit from Conscription [Mandatory Military Service]?

i think voluntary conscription could work. but it would have to be very short terms, 3/6/9/12 months max. enough to instill values/life skills and training as you said. also offer other training besides pure military, maybe skilled trades i.e. construction, mechanic, welder, masonry, etc...

those who are interested would get surely sign up. it could be an option for those who are not interested in college. there will be interest due to short commitment and training available.

as forced, long-term conscription, would never happen in this country.

 

Hell no. Very few things are mandatory in this country; let's keep it that way.

 

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The Army doesn't want them, and making the Army an institute of social change for the sake of social change is absolutely idiotic, as that's not the purpose of an Army. That alone should be an argument against conscription.

 

I think either Military, or Civil service would not be a bad thing, maybe a 1 or 2 year committment.

Have both contain the ability for matching funds for college.

DD

 

No.

1. What is the military going to do with all those people? I think you get diminishing returns and you'd end up with a lot of recruits you have to feed, house, and train that don't return enough value to make it worthwhile for the military.

2. It would water down the military experience because of the crush of undermotivated and/or undertalented recruits that need to be processed. This conscripted population wouldn't get the same rigor of discipline and training that the current Army gets.

3. There's actually worthwhile things young adults can be doing in school or work that would be delayed by a stint in the military.

 

I vote "No". With that many conscripts, they would likely spend the majority of their time cleaning and eating.

 

I wouldn't against a mandatory 2 year commitment but it should be the military, national social work, international social work, public works training and work, or college with a minimum number of credits and grades.

 

Why not make rotc mandatory? Start at age 15. Those that want to continue can continue on..

 

That would be a great start to getting some of these thugs off the streets by teaching them sense of ethics a useful skill in they would get from joining the service.

 

I think it would help greatly in terms of all those aspects and I would be in favor of it.

 

Not necessarily military, but i think two years of some type of public service should be required.

 

The only major good that I can see about it is with almost everyone being directly affected in some way by the military, as in either serving or having close friends and families serving, that might make politicians think much much more carefully about using the military.

 

Unless you plan on giving the military police functions (something people in the US are strongly opposed to), this would be a waste. The only reason something like this works in Israel is because they use the military as police. For example he military there mans all checkpoints (something border control would do in the US) and they station soldiers at places like train stations (something police do here).

The tea party is already paranoid about the power of the federal government. Imagine their reaction when the army starts to take over basic law enforcement functions.

 

Probably a good idea. Experiencing actual military life would probably make people less likely to glorify the military.

 

You might have some trouble selling this idea to conscientious objectors.

 

If it's for the benefit of the people and not the military, why not conscript them into some other body and leave the military alone? Fighting wars is serious business and they could probably stand to avoid the distraction of recruits who don't want to be there.

Because they'd have a lot of people who don't want to be there or people who would normally not pass their entrance requirements. With little expected of them and little benefit gained by the military anyway, I think the organizational tendency would be to demand less. This is a different sort of animal than the Vietnam conscription. A peace-time conscription that is aimed at social change won't have the same focus as a war-time conscription that can still screen its conscripts.

Why just college? Why not have an exception for plumber's apprentices? On the flipside, do you give people an out if they go to a diploma mill?

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I'm a bit surprised to see so many people thinking this is a good idea, honestly. I don't mean that it's so terrible, but that after Vietnam I would have thought people would be more circumspect. There aren't many things to State forces you to do aside from jury duty and paying taxes. This would be a gaint leap in obligation.