Draft vs. Volunteer Army: Overview

Introduction

Compared to other nations, particularly ancient ones, the United States has exercised conscription (the compulsory enlistment of able persons in a country's military) for a relatively short period of time. For as long as civilizations have existed, there have been conflicts and a need for people to fight in those conflicts. Conscription has been used as a viable solution to this problem as far back as ancient Greece and the Roman Republic.

In the United States, supporters of conscription—or the draft, as it is sometimes referred to—maintain that the process is distinctly democratic and is the only fair way to create a representative military force. Despite claims that the armed forces are comprised primarily of the poor and uneducated, a draft based only on age and gender (or as is being increasingly suggested, only by age) would not discriminate by class or race. Some evidence has shown, however, that recruiters for the volunteer army target the disadvantaged, using economic and educational incentives to entice people into joining. This fact, according to opponents of the draft, makes the so-called all-volunteer army give the impression that people with enough money can avoid their responsibility to their country.

Understanding the Discussion

Conscientious objection: The act of opting out of compulsory military service by claiming moral or religious opposition to war or conflict. There are strict requirements for being officially recognized as a conscientious objector, and documentation of a life lived according to the principles on which one's appeal is based is required. Depending on specific beliefs, conscientious objectors must either serve in the military in non-combat situations, or in an alternative service function that makes a direct contribution to the country. Outside of formal conscientious objection, men who fail to register for the draft or otherwise avoid service can be prosecuted by the government, with a penalty of up to five years in jail and fines up to $250,000.

Draft: Called conscription in most countries, the draft is the process by which the United States has, in the past, gathered members of its military. Generally, a man called to serve through the draft would serve for two to four years.

Mercenary: A person who engages in combat solely for monetary gain, as opposed to nationalism, loyalty, or pride.

Militia: Originally a Latin term meaning "military service," the term militia has come to mean an unofficial organization of armed citizens. Militias are usually organized by state as a kind of backup force for the national military, though they are rarely called into active service as a group.

National Guard: Officially both an arm of the US military and a militia, the National Guard is an organization that trains civilians to serve in the armed forces without officially enlisting them in the military. Based on the earliest colonial militias, the National Guard requires less of a commitment during peacetime than actual enlistment in the military, though members may be called to active duty at any time.

Selective Service System: An independent agency that keeps track of men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six who are required to register with the agency in case they are needed to augment the military's numbers.

History

One of first examples of a successful modern conscripted army was the force created during the early nineteenth century by Napoleon Bonaparte. Though he was eventually defeated, Napoleon led the French armies across Europe, crushing all of France's enemies. Afterwards, much of Europe began adopting France's draft army model.

The early American colonies did not have a conscripted army as such, though most required service in a local militia. After the Civil War, military officials began to lobby for the United States' adoption of a draft, with each draftee serving a two-year tour of duty. By the time World War I broke out, the United States had adopted a decentralized draft process run by local officials to fill the ranks of the military.

When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the draft bill in 1940, the United States was not involved in any significant military effort. Earlier, German socialist Friedrich Engels wrote that conscription was an important expression of democracy, since it illustrated that every citizen had responsibilities to their country, in return for the privileges and opportunities afforded citizens. President Lyndon Johnson reaffirmed this position in 1967, saying that the draft enhanced the citizenship of the men required to enroll in it, giving them more of a right to the privileges of living in the United States than they would have were they not officially defenders of the nation.

National tragedies have tended to increase the number of Americans volunteering for military service, as was the case after the attacks on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and again after the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Nevertheless, the 1960s saw a sharp decrease in young people's trust in authority, leading to a backlash against the draft when the Vietnam War broke out. Despite fluctuations in class representation between wars, the United States Armed Forces during this time represented a broader cross-section of class and race than any other country in the world.

In 1973, the United States returned to an all-volunteer military but required all men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six to register with the Selective Service System. This requirement was dropped two years later but was reinstated in 1980 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Officially, the draft ended in 1973, however, all male citizens of the United States must still register with Selective Service upon reaching the age of eighteen, as a kind of contingency plan in case the draft is reinstated.

In 2006, with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan entering their fourth years, and a continued American military presence in the Korean peninsula, the United States Armed Forces faced potential personnel shortages. Nevertheless, there was little serious discussion of reinstating the draft within the national defense community, though President George W. Bush made public statements about increasing the size of the military.

In late 2006 and in view of the Iraq War, US Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY) proposed a new military draft, to begin in 2007. The proposal had little support in Congress, however, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi rejected this proposal.

Draft vs. Volunteer Army Today

Were the US military suddenly in need of increased numbers due to a conflict that depleted the all-volunteer army, Congress and the president could authorize the activation of the Selective Service System. SSS would institute a lottery, based on birth date, for twenty-year-old men registered with the service. Those selected would have to report for physical exams to determine their fitness for duty. A man would have ten days to claim exemption, deferment, or postponement, although the standards for these conditions would be considerably higher than they were in the past, such as during the Vietnam War. As further troops would be required, the Selective Service System would continue the lottery with twenty-one-year-olds, twenty-two-year-olds, and up to twenty-five-year-olds, before returning to eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds.

In the United States, the practice of stop-loss, or forcing soldiers to stay in the military past their retirement or re-enlistment dates, has often been called a "backdoor draft." In 2008, Lt. Gen. James D. Thurman, deputy chief of staff for operations for the US Army, suggested that it would not be until late 2009 that this practice would cease. In March 2009, Robert Gates, then defense secretary under President Barack Obama, announced that the unpopular policy would be phased out to a minimal existence by the year 2011.

Many countries, including Russia, Sweden, and Israel, still practice conscription, while some countries, such as China, practice selective conscription. Most Western countries moved in the direction of all-volunteer armies, however. The Global Human Rights Accord, signed in 1994, has caused the United Nations to enact laws to end conscription in certain countries, such as Guatemala. A 2019 Pew Research Center analysis found that of 191 countries, sixty actively conscripted at least some citizens; twenty-three, including the US, authorized conscription but had no active draft; eighty-five did not authorize conscription; and the remainder lacked standing militaries.

The major contemporary arguments regarding the draft versus an all-volunteer military in the US center around questions of equity, cost, division between military members and civilians, foreign policy disengagement, military readiness, and militarism. For instance, US combat restrictions for women were ended in late 2015, reigniting a decades-long sex-discrimination debate over whether women should be required to register with the Selective Service as men must in case of another draft. In 2021, legislation was introduced to the US House of Representatives that would enable women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six to register for Selective Service alongside men. However, the bill did not gain any major traction after it was referred to the House Committee on Armed Services shortly after its introduction.

These essays and any opinions, information or representations contained therein are the creation of the particular author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of EBSCO Information Services.

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