Essay Sample: Should USA Reinstate the Military Draft and Should Women Be Involved In the Draft?

Being the world's strongest nation, the United States of America prides in being a country that is founded on every citizen having the unalienable rights of liberty and life. Therefore, dating back to 1973, when the United States called off the military conscription, a sparkled debate on whether to reinstate or not to reinstate the Military draft has ensued. This discussion has considerably been attributed to the fact that after the abandonment of conscription, the US Army has worked in favor of an all-volunteer force, which has seen many Americans regarding the military service as more of a job opportunity than it was initially deemed as a patriotic duty. On the other hand, with the recent lifting of gender restrictions in the combat arms specialties of the United States, the question of whether women should be involved in the military draft has also merited great concerns, with advocates of the reinstatement of the draft holding varying opinions regarding the drafting of the women. For this reason, this research paper seeks to argue out why it would be unnecessary to reinstate the Military Draft and also to discuss why involving women in the draft is totally uncalled for if the United States Military draft is reinstated.

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Firstly, with the modern day today technological advancement and military performance, reinstating the military draft is not essential. Looking back in history, the military draft was for once applied the two World Wars and also in the Vietnam war. During the events of these wars, the United States and the world as a whole was in no position to access highly advanced machinery and technological tools to aid the soldiers in the time of war. This, in its deepest essence, is the most significant contrast between this particular period when the military draft was used and the modern day America. In the modern day today, the American armed forces are heavily supplied with modern and well-updated technology that is capable of performing the tasks that were once daunting in the pre-Cold War era. According to Goodwin (1995), during the Word Wars, the size of the army was a representation of the strength of it, since the troops did not have the advanced machinery to help them win the wars. Thus, when compared to the modern day today forces, the availability of advanced technological aids directly represents the troops strength, and for this reason, an overpopulated military force, as a result of the military draft reinstatement is not necessary.

Additionally, reinstating the military draft is completely unnecessary since the American military force has an abundance of troops from the current volunteering system. According to the United States Army administration, the Congress can only pass the rule to allow the reinstatement of the military draft in a case where the American troops are not enough for a particular war. This is, however, not common in the modern day American troops since more soldiers do not mean a better army. An ideal evidence of the sufficiency of the modern American militia is the American war in Iraq. According to the reports of the results of the war, among the various shortcomings that may have been encountered by the U.S military strategy in Iraq, a shortage of militia manpower was not one of them.

Being a democratic and a free country, American citizens have the right to say no to the things that they do not want to do. The reinstatement of the military draft, which would see a majority of the American youths forcefully joining the militia would, however, violate the freedom of the American citizens. Moreover, forcing people, especially the young people into the army would mean that they will not give in the necessary commitment and hence, they will be both physically and mentally unprepared for the war. Living the American dream does not mean forcing the citizens in doing something that they are not willing to do. As a matter of fact, would rather go to college or pursue a career of their dreams, for them to be regarded as people who are living the American dream. This being said, the reinstatement of the draft would be wrong and cruel, which is not what the United States represents.

In the same vein, the inclusion of women in the military draft would also be uncalled for. Unlike what many military draft advocates have contended, drafting women is not an issue that relates to equal rights for both genders. This is in the sense that, women and men are wired in a different way. Bearing in mind that the military draft requires the recruitment of troops out of their own free will, women, are more likely to fall out or even give less commitment to the force when they are drafted as compared to their male counterparts. As nature would have it, women are physically weaker than the men, and this means that they are less likely to cope with the harsh militia requirements and duties than the men. Regarding emotionality, women are considered as the more emotional gender. Thus, putting the issue of feminism and gender equality aside, involving women in military drafts would be uncalled for.

On the other hand, dating back in history, the United States has seriously considered drafting women only a single time in history. This was during the World War II military-nurse shortage. Nevertheless, this did not resonate well with the women of the time as an immediate response, the Womens Committee to Oppose Conscription, was formed by a group of activists who sought to object drafting of women in the World War II. During this time, the women primarily opposed their inclusion in the draft since this would mean rolling back their independence which had been won by first-wave feminists.

Besides, the reinstatement of a military draft in the United States would be unnecessary since it would mean the recruitment of incompetent and unwilling troops into the force. By definition, a military draft is an overly coercive use of power, which can be implemented on a national level, by the government. Therefore, in the case of a draft reinstatement, the draftees will not only be required to submit to government control for the better parts of their lives but will also have their lives interrupted at a government command. Therefore, since like regular recruited troops, draftees will be required to put themselves in vulnerable and dangerous places where they are prone to severe hurt or death, incompetency or inadequate submission should be the most discouraged traits for one to join the force.

Also, reinstating the military draft would mean discrimination of the socially and financially disadvantaged people. This is evidenced by the fact that, dating back to the World Wars, the draft has never been equitable, a major reason which led to its unpopularity and hence its abandonment. For instance, the American Civil War draft is known to be the most notorious draft with regard to inequality. During this war, various people such as popular Confederate slave owners and the members of state legislatures were exempted from conscription. Thus, with the modern day social and racial inequalities, this trend is bound to repeat itself, in the event that the United States Military draft is reinstated. This would mean that the wealthy and socially advantaged people would get the chance to buy their way out of the confederation, while the minority groups would continue to serve unwillingly in the force.

In addressing the opposing viewpoint, advocates of the draft argue that, if everyone had a stake in providing services in the militia, then, the United States would be less likely to be drawn to war since this would foster a society that lives in democracy. However, this can be considered a fallacy since, with civilization, public service in the modern day America extends beyond militaristic or government based activities. For instance, there is a majority of young people who actively engage in philanthropic pursuits that are not only beneficial than serving in the military but also both the United States and the world as a whole.

Additionally, advocates also contend that in the event of reinstating the military draft, American citizens from all social classes would be compelled to fight and serve for their country. Nevertheless, this claim can be disregarded based on the extreme biasedness that was experienced the last time that the draft was implemented in the Vietnam War. During this war, the poor minority groups were oppressed by the draft since, unlike their wealthy counterparts, they did not have money or educational deferments to use as bribery to avoid service. For this reason, young men belonging to both the middle and the upper social classes evaded being thrown in the service where they were prone to harm and instead, remained behind and continued to enjoy the comfortable lifestyle away from the war. The sons of the poor and lower social class, on the other hand, went into war and theoretically fought for those who were lucky enough to buy their ways out of the force. This being said, it is with no doubt that the draft was extremely biased and at the same time, encouraged social divisions. Reinstating the draft, therefore, would in one way or the other, expose the American nation to modern social groups and biases.

In conclusion, the military force should only consist of those individuals with a strong sense of patriotism, those who meet the requirements and also those with a genuine inclination to defend their country. Also, in the event of the reinstatement of the draft, women should not be involved; not because they are a weaker gender but primarily due to their natural and physical inclination to militaristic activities. In the same vein, according to militias, a mans mentality usually is the greatest weapon in the event of war. Therefore, when American citizens, and especially the women, are forced into joining the militia through the reinstatement of the draft, a majority of the forced troops will have a mentality that will not match what they are doing, and the immediate result of this will be conflict. Thus, with all the aforementioned contentions, I conclude that the American Military Draft is unnecessary and indeed, uncalled for. It should, therefore, be avoided since a nations liberty begins with the freedom of citizens to make their own choices.