Should Military Service Be Required?

At 17 Richard joined the Army. He went to basic training between his junior and senior year in high school at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma. He describes basic training as 90% mental and 10% physical. He felt this was one of the easiest parts of his military service. He had to stay 2 weeks longer than he was supposed to because of an injury. At

There are a lot of graduates fresh out of high schools that make the decision to use the military. There are some people that join the military because that is a fast and easy choice for them. The military gives everyone a wide variety of options. College for instance, the military allows you to serve your country and still have time to attend college and get a degree if you choose to do that. People that choose to join the military get the option to go to college anytime they feel during their military career. The military pays for part or all the tuition. The military has four different branches, Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marines. Each branch offers different trades. Air Force for example, teaches people to fly, have mechanical skills,

Absolutely, positively, emphatically, unequivocally, without a doubt, NO! Not now, not ever! Well, maybe for one reason, in the event of an existential threat to our nation. Now that I have stated my opinion I will back this up with information from several studies providing evidence for continuing the worlds greatest all volunteer (entry) military force.

Recruit training is broken into four distinct phases: Forming/Processing, about one week; first phase, four weeks; second phase, 4 weeks; and third phase, three weeks. Each of these phases is designed to place different, and progressively more intense, physical and mental stress on the recruit. The psychological pressures are much more intense than the physical ones and serve to impress upon the recruit the importance of adapting to the demands this new society places upon him and the punishment he can expect if he fails. Unlike society in general, a Marine recruit learns that transgressions will result in swift, certain, and severe punishment. Unlike the civilian world; however, punishment is often meted out en masse, to the entire platoon. The principal being that, when you make a mistake as a civilian, the only person you hurt is you, but when a Marine makes a mistake, it may cost other Marines their lives. This mass punishment serves to place extreme peer pressure on the recruit in addition to the stress brought to bear by the rigors of training and the omnipresence of the drill instructor (DI). All this serves to force the recruit to adapt as quickly as possible to his new society.

True soldiers of hope do not do what they do for glory, fame, or to be superior over others, they do what they do because of the love in their heart and soul and for the greater good of mankind. Any real soldier can tell you this awe inspiring statement, as it is a reflection of their motivation, the element which compels them to push on and do what they are called on to do. More so, this motivation retains to members of the Army National Guard, citizen-soldiers who can, at any instance, put all aspects of their lives on hold in order to serve for the greater good of their country. And while it is true that people who join the National Guard gain access to substantial military and educational

Being in the military comes with plenty of benefits. Free education is probably the number one reason (how do you think I am paying for my school right now). You get to travel and see things you thought you would never see. Not only do you become physically tough but also mentally tough. You become prepared for the tough civilian life. Markos Moulitsas Zuniga repots that, “The Army taught me the very values that make us progressives--community, opportunity, and investment in people and the future.” Although many feel that they should not join the military it can really improve our lives and they way we think.

Youth are also required to follow hard schedules of military boot camp activities, such as drill, manual labor, and physical training. Participants are woken up very early every morning and kept busy with tasks during the day, with little free time and often no choices. Rigorous rules are put in place to regulate conduct and appearance, and punishment for breaking the rules is swift and usually involves physical activity, such as pushups and sit ups and jumping jacks. Rehabilitative elements are often incorporated into the programs, such as classes and substance abuse and group counseling (Juvenile). Further, upon release, there are after-care programs typically implemented after graduation, such as abuse treatment, rehabilitative counseling, and intensive community supervision

Making military service mandatory sound like it would be a good idea. This can give discipline, makes stronger citizens, but the reality is doing this takes away freedom and goes against the very foundations of what America is supposed to be. Mandatory military service should not be required for American citizens.

Mandatory military service requires every citizen to join and serve in the armed forces, but not every young man or women can handle the intense physical training, furthermore, patriotism will be compromised by such an enforcement. It takes a certain type of individual to withstand the mental, physical, and psychological demands that the military requires. Those who are forced to join and do not have the stamina need face factors like anxiety, depression and even suicide. A study conducted by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America showed that approximately 40,000 military members who returned from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). And that rate is three times higher among those who were deployed in combat than those who were non-deployed. When a recruit joins on a voluntary basis, there is a great sense of pride and patriotism as they accomplish the strenuous and challenging training, consequently, this will be compromised as the attitude will change when the enrollment goes from voluntary to requirement. Part of the reason why the military is so successful is due to this pride and when that is compromised, the institute will be weakened. The training for the military is intense and not all 18-year old’s can handle the pressure to perform under fire and the threat of death, which can be dangerous not only for the ailing service member but the entire troop. The pride of those who do accomplish the training is

The GI Bill also provides assistance with career advancement. Entrepreneurship training helps veterans start their own businesses, flight training allows veterans to become airline pilots, and funding for license and certification testing helps servicemen and women become certified mechanics, therapists, web developers, and attorneys (“Education Benefits”, 2017).

When someone starts new in the army and start going trough basic training (BCT) they learn a new meaning of

Everyone goes through tough times, from deaths, divorces, to everyday stressors and many people are not equipped with the coping mechanism to withstand the stress. The military first and foremost builds a sense of comradery, a team, a family. This bond is beneficial for numerous reasons. The relationship helps many people realize they have others that count on them, need them, and would have a purpose. Some individuals in the military, like the general United States population, come from a place that has a mentality where everyone is out for themselves. The military breaks down those barriers in basic combat training (BCT) and rebuilds a person’s mental, emotional, and physical outlook. Training is particularly useful to build trust. There are many exercises in the

Life for me in the military has changed me in many different ways like, trusting a person that looked different, reasonability, and working in places that the environment isn’t friendly. It taught me to be accountable for my actions. As a 17 year old young man, I was always the one to make a lot of excuses for anything that I was too lazy to complete. The military made me a responsible person. People knew that my word was solid if I said the task was complete, and trust was being earned. In the military trust is one of the biggest factors that keeps us alive during a mission, without it we are doomed.

Education is not the only benefit that comes from service in the military. When many people first join, they are assigned MOSs. MOSs are jobs assigned to someone when they first join (Nance). Each MOS is specific and is usually related to the field an individual is interested in. He is sent to training immediately after basic training. Each branch of the military has different jobs, depending on what is available. Jobs can range from being a dentist to becoming a lawyer, but each has its own school for

Most people have, at one point or another, considered what they were going to do with their lives. Whether a person would like to become an activist, an artisan or a business professional, the military has something for everyone. Finding a path in life is often filled with uncertainty and procrastination. The United States military is a path in itself, should one wish to retire from it; however, should a person wish to make their own path, there are benefits for that as well that can remove all doubt and curb procrastination. Due to these many benefits, I believe that it should be mandatory for all adults to enlist for a minimum of twenty-four months.