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Have War Drums Beat Down Enlistments?
By Thomas D. Segel
January 27, 2003

Have the drums of war beaten so loudly, American youth are no longer hearing the call to arms? The correct answer to such a question may be hard to find. Much of the answer rests with which viewpoint one accepts.

There are some members of congress calling for the reinstitution of our Selective Service System, better known as the military draft. Their argument is a disproportionate number of minorities now populate our armed forces. They feel a fair representation of America can only be achieved if young people are drafted from all economic stations and ethnicities.

The Department of Defense has answered back with a number of negative commentaries. Most remarks have painted the average draftee as a reluctant warrior or a sub-standard member of the military team. These comments have enraged a variety of congressional members so much that DoD is now doing a swift back peddle on its previous words about those who have been drafted into service.

Robert Maginnis, a national security analyst understands why our armed forces are struggling to recruit the high achievers and scholars from our communities. "The military is seen as an underclass type of profession", he says. "If that is the case, then you're not going to attract the best and the brightest that we need in a very sophisticated, high-tech worldwide military."

One year after the start of our war against terrorism and facing a build-up for possible war with Iraq, American attitudes toward the military are mixed. The majority of parents would not like to see their children in uniform.

Young people asked in a recent poll responded they were not likely to see the armed forces as a career. Of the younger parents, only about one third would like to see their sons or daughters in uniform.

Why is there such a trend in our society? Many attribute the decline in interest to the fact there are fewer people in our communities who have ever worn the uniform. Thus, there are fewer military role models. Veterans are on a steady decline as those who served in World War II and Korea march on to their final rewards. Even within the Halls of Congress there are few that have proudly worn the uniform of our country. Thirty years ago 77% of those in Congress were veterans. Today that number is less than 25%.

The trend away from the military service can be seen on all college campuses. Populated today by faculty members, who were a major part of the Vietnam anti-war movement, there is a very one-sided academic debate on the merits of military service.

Even the ROTC components of colleges and the JROTC units of high schools are facing difficulty.

One of the most under reported stories in recent days was a Department of Defense news release, which announced a new short-term enlistment program will begin October 1. Congress authorized the National Call to Service enlistment option as part of the fiscal 2003 National Defense Authorization Act.

This new program calls for 15 months of active duty following completion of recruit training. This would give the enlistee between 18 and 19 months of active duty, followed by a 24-month reserve obligation, then a transfer to the ready reserve to complete an eight-year commitment.

Historically, our armed forces have offered short-term active duty enlistments during times when regular recruiting was having difficulty. It allowed our military strength to remain at a steady level and at the same time increased the strength of our reserve forces.

At a time when there are continuing reserve activations and constant deployments, a new method of building up the reserve units becomes increasingly more important. Officials are only too aware of the fact; military reserves make up half of our force in readiness.

The active duty forces claim there is no recruiting crisis. They say that despite the negative attitudes toward service, recruiting remains steady. The Army has met its recruiting quota three years in a row.

The Navy and Air force report that their recruiting is going well and the Marine Corps, which still lauds its first to fight tradition, has met or exceeded quotas for the past seven years.

So the war drums keep beating. Is our military in trouble? Do we need the draft? Are recruiting goals being met? Pick your own source and decide for yourself.