Interesting add...
President Bush has stated that no legislation reinstating a draft will ever make it past his desk while he's in office, end of discussion.
The Pentagon has reported that it is meeting it's recruiting goals for the last few years, plus or minus a bit here and there.
Kerry says that he wants to increase the size of the military, but gives no details on how he plans on doing this.
The military is seeing higher than historically average retention due to the soft economy.
Ex-military members tend to learn many highly desired job skills that are very valuable in helping find good jobs after they get out.
One of the biggest arguments FOR the draft is that too many minorities are in the military, however anyone leaving the military takes an enormous amount of knowledge with them when they leave which puts those ex-military minorities a step ahead of the non-minorities who kept smoking dope and working at McDonalds instead of joining up. I'd think that minority leaders would be jumping all over themselves to get more minorities into the military due to the opportunities that it opens up to anyone who may not otherwise have had a way to get ahead. Sure it's a high-risk job, but those risks are not unfairly shared within the military, so once someone joins up, they have the same chances as anyone else including opportunities for education in both general school studies as well as technical skills. On top of that are added the leadership opportunities and, dare I say, even the chance for a little personal glory for those who find themselves in a position where they must act in ways beyond the capabilities of the average person.
Every enlisted troop or officer I know that's getting out is going to a job that pays at a minimum 2x the average entry level high school grad's starting wage, and is often rather high. A 22 year old guy I know just finished 5 years as a communications/computer enlisted troop and he's taking his experience out to a $60,000 civilian job with a major network provider. While he was in the military he got most of his college degree finished with 100% tuition assistance and when he's finished with that degree he'll be able to compete for promotions and raises with people who went to prestigous 4 or 5 year universities because of the practical experience he will add to his resume on top of his degree.
The whole scare bit about the draft is utter BS, and one of the big reasons behind those pushing the draft is likewise BS. It'll never pass congress, even if it did Bush would veto it, and the current setup meets white house, congressional, and pentagon policy while giving EVERY military member, majority or minority, a huge advantage in the job market over people who never serve their country. So what's the big deal?
Oh yea, that's right... The media and a few scare mongers are whipping a non-event into a huge story, and too many people are not educated enough on the issue to know that they're being lied to. That's the big deal.
