Bring Back the Draft! (Well, sort of)

We need a national bonding mechanism.

America lost something very beneficial when it got rid of the draft

How’s that for a controversial statement?

Place the issue – the draft – in a box by itself and the objections to military conscription are easy to understand.

They were initially driven by an unpopular war, but there were also libertarian objections.

Those in favor of keeping it had their own tight little box. They asked if an adequate national defense could be mustered with a volunteer military and reminded people that The Cold War was still very real.

The strongest counterargument, however, declared that if a war were popular, then the military would have no problem meeting its recruitment goals.

The anti-draft forces grew, the political tide shifted, and so the draft went.

But amid the heat of the debate about military strength, we missed something.

The draft was not simply a way to augment the military. It was also one of the most important tools for strengthening the unity and fiber of the nation.

The military draft produced a large number of citizens who shared an invaluable and patriotic experience. They’d been tossed together for two years of active duty with a very diverse bunch of fellow citizens with whom they learned a lot about the nation, people, and organizations.

They often acquired both an enduring sense of pride and a healthy skepticism, often producing an odd blend of “Band of Brothers” and “Catch-22.” Military service was the true melting pot.

(I served with plenty of John Waynes, Eddie Murphys, and Bill Murrays.)

Juvenile delinquents served alongside graduate students. Liberals were in there with conservatives. Rich kids. Poor kids. Urban blacks were alongside white Southerners. Hispanics, Asians, American Indians, and many relatively recent immigrants were in the mix.

And they learned from and about one another.

For many people who would not have otherwise gone near the military, it was a tough finishing school that taught discipline, decision-making, and leadership along with a blend of good old fashioned American wise-guyism and cockiness. Colorful military language reveals a great deal about those lessons in skepticism:

“Hurry up and wait.”

“FUBB” (effed-up beyond belief)

“SNAFU” (Situation Normal, All Effed-Up)

Needless to say, mindless robots did not come up with such expressions.

Were there downsides?

Absolutely. But, over the long term, it is easy to see what was lost.

Take a quick look around our current society and you’ll see a bonding deficit. Club memberships have dropped. Self-discipline and courtesy have fallen. Entire groups are alienated. People have lost a sense of connection to and responsibility for one another.

And this is because, once upon a time, we as a nation forgot about the importance of common experience. We thought that such things happen automatically, and we have suffered the unintended consequences for that assumption.

Here’s my prediction: In the very near future, the United States will take a serious look at some form of mandatory national service; one with both military and civilian components.

Although the emphasis will be on service, this program will be a large step toward revitalizing what it means to be a citizen.

Getting such a program through the political system won’t be easy. You can easily imagine the objections.

But we know what happens without it: isolation, loneliness, tribalism.

National service will be a major step toward renewing the nation.