The Perfect Draft

PGL at Angry Bear has an excellent post on the Draft. I will first say I support the imposition of the Draft; in fact, I opposed the All Volunteer Force when first proposed. One has to propound a rationale for his position, so here is how I see it. I actually believe in paying below-Market slave wages to Draftees; perhaps the greatest deterrent to warmaking which exists. Servicemen should never fully trust their leadership, or should they ever be truly compensated for their Service. Combat morale can be sustained by Team support of each other. The common response to leadership should be anger, when they believe that leadership threatens themselves. A Junior officer who faces no resentment in the ranks probably is not doing his Job. Command leadership should only be respected by Survivors, well after the Conflict has ceased.

I advocate a mandatory Reserve Training conducted in the summers individuals attend High School. Trainees should be paid a set monthly stipend, differentiated by the rank attained–never above Staff Sargent; Wage never to equal a basic Minimum Wage equivalence. All trained Reservists would be subject to military call to duty between the ages of 18-42, while a military chosen 10% must serve either a maximum tour of 2 years, or yearly summer training for 6 years. All Ranks below E-4 will receive equivalent Pay equal to Civilian Minimum Wage pay, with military pay increasing by 2% per Stripe (E-rank increase). Legislation should preclude Enlisted Ranks from marriage until they have reached position of E-5, and forbid retention in the Military of any Enlisted Rank who has more than two Dependents; unless a general Call-Up has been issued. Under the latter case, each Dependent of a Serviceman or Servicewoman shall receive only a basic equivalence to Minimum Wage income per Dependent (and no other benefits); this dispersal totally subject to necessary proof of Need.

I do not want Americans in military service, but I want them fully competent to accept advanced military training within a 6-month period. I do not want Americans happy in the Service, or of the thought of it as a successful Income for raising a family. I want every American to be conscious that they themselves, or a close family member, could be Called to Duty in any American military adventure; this Call based entirely on their military skill records. I want every American Serviceman to be angry at their Government for dragging them away from their families, angry at military leadership for poor military strategy or tactics, and ready to do battle with an Enemy that caused their placement in danger. Such Americans will not accept half-baked Calls for military incursion or occupation from their own leadership, and feel semi-rage at Anyone who has to be defeated by the American military. lgl