For a war yet against a draft?

[Chaos]

Thoughit doesn't sound as widespread, I know back when we had a draft, one could apply for 'Conscientious Objector' status and (if I recall correctly, it ahs been a long time since I looked into this) and one would then get put to work doing similar tasks. It was never popular, for a variety of reasons, though.

I am curious though, does your draft alternative go by the skills the person already has? I mean if the person has training as a nurse, they get put to work as a nurse, if they are already trained to drive a bus, they get put to work driving disabled children, etc? Or is there some sort of choice as to what you go into (i.e. a person doesn't think they can handle cleaning bedpans but has no problem doing a lot of driving, so he can opt to drive the children rather than be a nurse)? If so I don't think it's quite the same thing, but I see your point regardless.

You can pick your job; that is, you can go check with those who employ civilian servicemen - usually the local churches, schools, hospitals, or non-profit organizations. Then you have to convince them to take you - make like a job interview. IIRC you had half a year or thereabouts to do that, and if you didn´t find anything you´d be assigned a job - usually the ones nobody wanted.
Most draftees don´t have any job training, since the draft usually catches them right after high school. At least it was like that for my brother and me. We did have mechanics to fill two slots for, well, mechanics to maintain the station´s car fleet of twenty-odd vehicles, and a banker to do the accounting, though. I imagine that other specialist job slots are filled with people who have the respective training - IIRC janitor jobs are usually given only to people who are electricians or such in "real life".
You had to meet some minimum requirement for most jobs, like having a valid driver´s license for all jobs that involved driving, but other than that, you´d be taught anything you needed to be able to do in home care. We used to joke that the home care personnel would make very sought-after husbands because we already knew how to do all the stuff like feeding, bathing, changing diapers and such.

When I did civilians service, IIRC about half of all draftees chose civilian over military service - roughly 175,000 out of 360,000 each year. AFAIK now the proportion is more like 60 percent. On paper, military service is the norm, and you have to be conscientious objector (or cite the religious reasons I mentioned) to do civilian service. But that´s only pro forma really, and by now I´d almost say civilian service is becoming the norm.

Service time for civilian service used to be three months longer than for military service, but that´s down to one month by now. I never understodd why that difference exists, though.

 

[CapelDodger]

Dont you think its reckless for the candidates to say "There will be no draft." How do they know they wont need it.

There's an election going on. They have to say it. Unless they both say the opposite - which ain't gonna happen. What they say will have no bearing on what they actually do. "Read my lips ... No. New. Draft."

 

[Tmy]

Seriously, if it turns out Iraq would require a draft, I think it's more likely that the US would simply pull out entirely. Instituting a draft would be political suicide for whichever party proposed it.

I think this is true. And thats what annoys me. Sending people out to war just comes so easy for some people. But a draft (which could effect war hawks personally) sends people running to the hills.


If drafts are so detrimental from a military standpoint, why did we bother having one in Nam?

 

[TragicMonkey]

If drafts are so detrimental from a military standpoint, why did we bother having one in Nam?

Because the politicians of the era realized that "containing communism" was far more important in getting them reelected than worries about the war. For decades the entire country was dedicated to combating communism, and under that banner a politician could get away with all sorts of things*.

I think they were right in their assessment that the voters didn't mind the draft so much as the alternative, dropping the war --to this day, criticism of the Vietnam War is regarded by many Americans as outright treason. What percentage of the entire current US presidential election has been focused on the Vietnam War and the candidates' actions and thoughts during it?



*not that I'm suggesting anyone's exploiting armed conflicts or creating an "America versus the Bad Guys" mindset these days in order to amass more power. Of course not! The suggestion's ridiculous.

 

[Ladewig]

The current rumor on the internets is that the military is considering drafting doctors.

 

[Rob Lister]

I dont get how people can be for the Iraq war and then freak out whenever someone brings up the draft.

Because it is, in this instance, counterproductive. Therefore, to be for the war and against the draft are consistent positions.

 

[TragicMonkey]

The current rumor on the internets is that the military is considering drafting doctors.

Trapper was so much better than that idiot Honeycutt. And I couldn't like Colonel Potter once I found out he beat his wife in real life.

 

[Rob Lister]

Trapper was so much better than that idiot Honeycutt. And I couldn't like Colonel Potter once I found out he beat his wife in real life.

That is such BULL! Honeycutt could outslice Trapper with his eyes closed (and often did).

And Potter only beat his wife on Sunday, while adhearing strictly to the Rule of Thumb.

 

[TragicMonkey]

That is such BULL! Honeycutt could outslice Trapper with his eyes closed (and often did).

I don't care if he was a better surgeon, Honeycutt was a rotten conversationalist. Always moping about his stupid family. Wah, wah, wah. Too bad they never aired the episode where Hotlips lost her patience and stabbed his mouth shut with skewers.

 

[Patrick]

I dont get how people can be for the Iraq war and then freak out whenever someone brings up the draft.

Yeah! And I don't get how people can say they like orange juice, and then freak out about bicycles!

 

[DaChew]

You guys can go on all you want about the junior varsity but I'm the only one here with the guts to say Winchester had it all over Hawkeye.

 

[Crossbow]

I dont get how people can be for the Iraq war and then freak out whenever someone brings up the draft.

Actually I do get it, people are OK with the war cause it has no effect on their lives. They dont particuarly care about the soilders fighting there, after all "they signed up."

Can you wave the moral war flag when you disapprove ofa draft? If its morally correct, a draft shouldnt sway your opinion.

They are just afraid that there may not be enough loop-holes for them to wiggle through as Bush and Cheney did during the Vietnam War.

 

[Tony]

You guys can go on all you want about the junior varsity but I'm the only one here with the guts to say Winchester had it all over Hawkeye.

Drop the facade, we all know you really love Major "there goes my transfer" Burns. (10 points to whoever can guess which episode that's from)