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Sunday, November 21, 2004
What about the draft?
Veterans, youths weigh pros, cons
By LYNN BULMAHN | News-Journal Staff Writer
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — As the war in Iraq rages on, many Americans may wonder if more soldiers are needed on the front lines — and where to get them.
For decades, the United States has had an all-volunteer military. But during the last election campaign, questions were raised about whether to reinstitute the draft.
For his part, President Bush said during the candidate debates he would not consider a draft.
Army public affairs specialist Cynthia Womack said the official word is no draft is in the works. She said Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has said the recruitment numbers in the all-volunteer military are good, and he does not see a draft coming.
“Nothing has changed from our perspective,” she said in a telephone interview from her Jacksonville office. She said the Army has been able to meet its nationwide recruiting goals and interest in military careers remains strong for the 18- to 24-year-old age group it targets.
However, if a draft were to become a reality, how would it affect the young people who would be required to join the military? And how would it affect the armed services?
“I think any young person graduating from high school would benefit immensely from two to four years in the military,” said Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Paul Olszewski, who leads a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Pine Ridge High School in Deltona. “It’s an excellent way to start out in life. The responsibility learned with military training gives young people more discipline.”
Olszewski said members of the armed services learn to be more focused, follow directions and lead others. They are better able to handle time management issues, which is a big part of managing one’s life, he said.
“The military is a maturing process and with four years experience, you are used to being held responsible for what you are expected to do,” Olszewski said. “It allows an individual to grow a little bit. After military experience, a young person’s goals are probably a little more realistic.”
Chris Stachowiak , 20, a karate student at American Martial Arts, said there are pros and cons to requiring military service of all young people.
“Some people may not want to go and some may want to go into the military,” he said. “I think they should at least have a choice.”
Members of New Smyrna Beach’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4250 had different perspectives about drafting young people.
“I see so many kids today who probably need to spend some time in the military to learn discipline and respect,” said member Doug Apy. “Those values are often out the window.”
Pep Dean, a Vietnam-era veteran and former post commander, said he has mixed feelings about ever instituting another draft.
“The draft would be good for (young people),” Dean said, “but it might not be as good for people who are already in the military . . . We had a big problem in Vietnam with people who didn’t do their jobs. Those were the people who didn’t want to be there.”
Dean said most soldiers don’t want to fight alongside people who don’t want to be involved in combat situations.
“I’ve got no problem with (starting) the draft,” VFW member Alan Ayoubee said, adding he doubts the war on terror will escalate to the point a draft is necessary.
Ayoubee said he served in the Army during the 1960s, when the draft was in effect.
“I served with some very proud draftees,” he said. “They felt it was an honor to serve.”
He said the military could benefit from today’s young people.
“A lot of kids would want to make the military their career, but a lot wouldn’t want to be drafted,” he said. “The military has made men out of a lot of boys. It seems like a lot of the younger generation are computer geeks and they could be huge assets in the military because there are so many high-tech weapons these days.”
Dean said he doubts the government will try to draft people anymore after the problems of the 1960s.
“In today’s society, it’s hard to tell people to do things they don’t want to do,” he said.
But many young people do choose military service because the military can be a good starting point for a career, Dean said.
He said it helps them grow up. “If you find out about all the CEOs in our country, you’d be surprised how many started in the military.”
Tom Ryan, who served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, said the draft ensures people from all walks of life are involved in the war effort. He said with an all-volunteer system, people who enlist tend to be from one socioeconomic class, usually those too poor to afford a college education. He said they may not have a lot of life experiences.
“There’s one good thing about a draft and that is it would bring in a good mixture of people, including those with a good enough education to understand what is a legal order, and what is an illegal order,” Ryan said.
Ryan, also a VFW member, said people who have not had a decent grounding in concepts — such as the Bill of Rights — might tend to blindly follow any order, even an illegal one.
But fellow VFW member Ed “Freebird” Maynes said boot camp often did the trick in getting a young person to become more mature and responsible.
“I can’t see it hurting any kid today,” he said.
New Smyrna Beach High School junior Timothy LeGrande, 17, said the military can offer great benefits to young people, such as a way to attend college. But he said he thought starting up the draft would be a bad thing.
“Then I’d have to go to war and risk my life,” he said.
Usually during an active armed conflict, Olszewski said, Junior ROTC enrollment drops because parents are less in favor of it.
“It really runs in cycles,” he said, adding high school students involved in Junior ROTC are not obligated to join the military.
Tom Besaw, coordinator of career and technical education programs for Volusia County Schools, said about 6 percent of New Smyrna Beach High’s graduating class enlisted in the military in 2002, the latest year for which statistics are available.
Although New Smyrna Beach High does not have a Junior ROTC program, Besaw said, it is applying to begin a Naval Junior ROTC program.
He said there are five secondary schools within Volusia County that offer Junior ROTC. Each program has about 150 coed students. The high schools are Atlantic, Mainland, DeLand, Pine Ridge and Spruce Creek.
“Enrollment in Junior ROTC remains strong,” Besaw said.