Open letter to random message board poster who thought he and his friends would have been drafted for United States military duty during the Persian Gulf War.
First, we can dismiss the fact the United States eliminated military conscription (i.e. - the drafting of civilians) way back in 1973. Because hey, why not live in an imaginary world where we might need it again.
I don't think you have any sheer grasp of the numbers involving the U.S. military, or perhaps you're just selectively avoiding researching stuff on your own because it helps with whatever agenda you're trying to drive home. At any rate, I'll try to relate things as best I can.
Operation Desert Storm occurred for roughly six months in 1990 to February 1991. Without getting into too much detail, the United States sent almost 700,000 soldiers to fight this war. Seven-hundred thousand. Or, about the current population of the city of Boston. That's a lot. We basically sent a major city over there. So, there's that little fact. There are about 1.5 million active duty U.S. Armed Forces personnel around the globe right this second.That number might have been smaller over twenty years ago, but it was still significant. The United States has the second largest military in the world, with China being first.
But here comes the fun part. The part that involves that whole conscription thing. The United States has been an all-volunteer military for forty years. Forty! That's a long ass time. And we've been doing it for forty fucking years. Regardless if you enroll at a military academy or at your local recruiter at the mall, you are volunteering to defend your country. Which is great, sure. But we do it. A lot. Many of us. In fact, probably more than necessary. And we keep doing it. Including those active and reserve duty personnel, the United States also has a pool of candidates ready, willing, and able to sign up, and to continue signing up for years to come.
So, back to this idea of being afraid they might reactivate the draft back in '91. They could have, but they wouldn't have. Why? Because frankly, you're just not that important enough, bro. Hate to break it to you. It's nothing to be ashamed of, but the odds of the military calling on Average Joe Citizen to enroll for active duty is just not going to happen, and especially not back then. Why? Because you're way down on the bottom of the list. And that's no knock on you, or me, had I been old enough at the time. You see, the U.S. armed forces have a certain way of doing things, and it isn't going to change just to appease you, or me, or some other Average Joe Citizen. A few things would have to happen for the President to reopen the draft process. The biggest thing would have to be a massively debilitating loss of active and reserve military personnel. In other words, hundreds of thousands of deaths, or perhaps all of them collectively disappearing from the earth. In the case of the Gulf War, this would have to have occurred sometime before the conflict began. Because again, the U.S. armed forces handle their business. They have a standard for accomplishing things, and do not lower it to meet the needs of the weak and unsure. But for the sake of your argument, let's say there is somehow a massive loss of personnel. Nevermind the fact the U.S. has the second largest military in the world.
For argument's sake, let's just say you got your wish. Congress and the President re-established conscription, and the draft is all active-like. Oh no! You and your potheaded friends are frightened, listening to the radio, maybe chatting all scared in AOL chat rooms. Well, instead of acting like a doomsday prepper, you probably could have relaxed. The likelihood of your names getting called would have been slim to none. I know that's pretty incredulous, given your obviously svelte, fit, and athletic frame - at least back then. This is probably difficult to comprehend, but you and your boys would have been way, way down on the list. The U.S. armed forces have a pecking order, and unless you were active in ROTC, which I doubt, you and your buddies weren't getting called. This is why there's a reserve military, with hundreds of thousands enrolled. They go through that list first, along with all other lists that exhaust every single civilian that has endured military duty first - before calling on your ass. Or my ass. As of today, there are over two million military personnel in the world, active and otherwise, who would have to go and serve before you would. Again, we sent seven-hundred thousand to the Persian Gulf in 1990. Not only do you lack the basic military training to even have to worry about getting drafted, the odds are strongly in your favor - thanks to the military pecking order of actives, reserves, and retired - that you would have never heard your number called.
But since you're an anonymous message board poster, I'm sure you and your buddies would have valiantly served and dominated the Gulf War, so much so movies would have been made about you, right? I guess whatever fits the narrative best.
First, we can dismiss the fact the United States eliminated military conscription (i.e. - the drafting of civilians) way back in 1973. Because hey, why not live in an imaginary world where we might need it again.
I don't think you have any sheer grasp of the numbers involving the U.S. military, or perhaps you're just selectively avoiding researching stuff on your own because it helps with whatever agenda you're trying to drive home. At any rate, I'll try to relate things as best I can.
Operation Desert Storm occurred for roughly six months in 1990 to February 1991. Without getting into too much detail, the United States sent almost 700,000 soldiers to fight this war. Seven-hundred thousand. Or, about the current population of the city of Boston. That's a lot. We basically sent a major city over there. So, there's that little fact. There are about 1.5 million active duty U.S. Armed Forces personnel around the globe right this second.That number might have been smaller over twenty years ago, but it was still significant. The United States has the second largest military in the world, with China being first.
But here comes the fun part. The part that involves that whole conscription thing. The United States has been an all-volunteer military for forty years. Forty! That's a long ass time. And we've been doing it for forty fucking years. Regardless if you enroll at a military academy or at your local recruiter at the mall, you are volunteering to defend your country. Which is great, sure. But we do it. A lot. Many of us. In fact, probably more than necessary. And we keep doing it. Including those active and reserve duty personnel, the United States also has a pool of candidates ready, willing, and able to sign up, and to continue signing up for years to come.
So, back to this idea of being afraid they might reactivate the draft back in '91. They could have, but they wouldn't have. Why? Because frankly, you're just not that important enough, bro. Hate to break it to you. It's nothing to be ashamed of, but the odds of the military calling on Average Joe Citizen to enroll for active duty is just not going to happen, and especially not back then. Why? Because you're way down on the bottom of the list. And that's no knock on you, or me, had I been old enough at the time. You see, the U.S. armed forces have a certain way of doing things, and it isn't going to change just to appease you, or me, or some other Average Joe Citizen. A few things would have to happen for the President to reopen the draft process. The biggest thing would have to be a massively debilitating loss of active and reserve military personnel. In other words, hundreds of thousands of deaths, or perhaps all of them collectively disappearing from the earth. In the case of the Gulf War, this would have to have occurred sometime before the conflict began. Because again, the U.S. armed forces handle their business. They have a standard for accomplishing things, and do not lower it to meet the needs of the weak and unsure. But for the sake of your argument, let's say there is somehow a massive loss of personnel. Nevermind the fact the U.S. has the second largest military in the world.
For argument's sake, let's just say you got your wish. Congress and the President re-established conscription, and the draft is all active-like. Oh no! You and your potheaded friends are frightened, listening to the radio, maybe chatting all scared in AOL chat rooms. Well, instead of acting like a doomsday prepper, you probably could have relaxed. The likelihood of your names getting called would have been slim to none. I know that's pretty incredulous, given your obviously svelte, fit, and athletic frame - at least back then. This is probably difficult to comprehend, but you and your boys would have been way, way down on the list. The U.S. armed forces have a pecking order, and unless you were active in ROTC, which I doubt, you and your buddies weren't getting called. This is why there's a reserve military, with hundreds of thousands enrolled. They go through that list first, along with all other lists that exhaust every single civilian that has endured military duty first - before calling on your ass. Or my ass. As of today, there are over two million military personnel in the world, active and otherwise, who would have to go and serve before you would. Again, we sent seven-hundred thousand to the Persian Gulf in 1990. Not only do you lack the basic military training to even have to worry about getting drafted, the odds are strongly in your favor - thanks to the military pecking order of actives, reserves, and retired - that you would have never heard your number called.
But since you're an anonymous message board poster, I'm sure you and your buddies would have valiantly served and dominated the Gulf War, so much so movies would have been made about you, right? I guess whatever fits the narrative best.