The article under discussion presents arguments for and against compulsory mass recruitment in the United States. It was published in 2019, and the author is a leader in the United States Department of Defense; hence the insight within the article is essential. The idea of mandating public service for citizens has been debated in the United States for many years.
According to the author, one of the major postulations is that mass recruitment ensures the presence of a large and well-trained military force that can be deployed quickly in case of emergencies. He also states that mandatory public service would help promote a sense of civic duty and national unity and provide an opportunity for individuals to give back to their communities. It can be a good way to encourage people to fight for their country and promote its success. He states that army training imposes some sense of civic duty that may help people let go of the ethnic division that currently plagues the U.S.
The article’s author presents conflicting perspectives via the argument that mass recruitment has the power to unite people from diverse ethnic backgrounds. This fact may have some sense of truth, but it is more feasible for the GI generation of U.S. citizens. To be precise, youths were equally interested in fighting a common enemy during the Second World War and hence paid no attention to their internal ethnic conflicts (Carter, 2019). Therefore, at that particular time, people recruited to the army had unity of purpose more than may be the case in contemporary society because ethnic tensions seem to increase exponentially over time.
The article’s main message is that the military draft is strict in denying a significant population of young people the chance to join the army because of previous mistakes that could be overlooked. For instance, visible tattoos, past drug use, or criminal records should not be used to permanently prevent people from joining the army (Carter, 2019). The main reason is that some of these youth may be willing to change and army training provides ample opportunities for them to reform. Moreover, the author states vividly that military drafts tend to ignore females as prospective candidates even though they can offer valuable talents to the army.
Reference
Carter, A. (2019). Op-Ed: Why a former secretary of Defense says we do not need a draft or mandatory public service. Los Angeles Times. Web.