DBWI: What if the US Army was all-volunteer?

The latest draft board scandal has gotten me thinking. Back in the '70s after the Vietnam War ended the US experimented with abolishing conscription. There was alot of debate over wether the Army could maintain it's strengh relying only on volunteers. True the Army did have alot of recruiting difficulties at first, but enlistments were on the rise when Reagan reinstated the draft. What if Reagan didn't reinstate the draft? Could the Army have successfully adapted to not having access to conscripts? It worked for most of our history. Even in the '80s during the Cold War no more than 15% of each age cohort was selected. Then it dropped to 10%, and not it's closer to 5% since SCOTUS made Congress draft women. It should be possible to get enough volunteers by improving conditions and raising pay. Maybe give bonuses on enlistment just like the Army does with conscripts to who decide to sign up for service beyond two years.
 
I think that the powers that had been would of been more willing to get us into major conflicts without having to upset so many voters with a draft. So I could see us having troops on the ground in the South African Civil War, rather than just advisers. Also, I think we would have gotten more involved in the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. I could see us after the collapse of the USSR going in directly to Yugoslavia or Ukraine for humanitarian reasons, if nothing else.
 
I just don't find this likely given the egalitarian ideals of American society. The notion that some citizens shouldn't be expected to serve the nation would be unacceptable.
 
The end result of an all volunteer army in the United States would be an army of the nation's underclass and minorities. You'd still have 'conscription', but only in an economic sense. How many middle and upperclass kids are going to sign up to go off to war when they don't have to by law?
 

The Vulture

Banned
Well, as a cultural thing, I imagine soldiers would be held up as symbols of patriotism and self-sacrifice, that would be largely trumpeted as heroes, rather than soldiering being just another profession.
 
Well, as a cultural thing, I imagine soldiers would be held up as symbols of patriotism and self-sacrifice, that would be largely trumpeted as heroes, rather than soldiering being just another profession.
Something like the way long-term Enlisters are treated, only more so?
 
Yes, much more so. People who don't treat all soldiers like we do long-termers that might be attacked as unpatriotic or viewed with suspicion.
Well, I guess that would make sense, from that perspective. Someone holding a negative opinion of the people who would be volunteering to serve when they didn't have to... it'd seem rather ungrateful, wouldn't it?
 
I think the big difference would be in the shape of the Armed forces. I think the volunteer US armed forces would be a bit like Britain in that they would have a smaller professional army backed up by a reserve force to give more bang for your buck. In the UK's case its the TA but in the US I suppose it would be the National Guard.
So you would see a National Guard equipped to deploy and fight overseas to reinforce a much smaller regular army. Also the army wouldn't have to "GI proof" its gear to the same extent if it was a professional. Also as it would be smaller it would be easier to replace equipment so I think it would be more advanced.
 
Then again, there wouldn't be as much desertion. The US Armed Forces is the finest military force on this planet - but the MPs have their hands full with some 18-year-old who can't accept the fact that he's in the military, and you don't sneak off base to make out with your girlfirend whenever you feel like it.
 
...You'd still have 'conscription', but only in an economic sense. How many middle and upperclass kids are going to sign up to go off to war when they don't have to by law?

Well despite every new "reform" that comes out upper and middle class kids still seem to find loopholes. Just look at the socioeconomic profile of National Guard recruits and compare it to regular Army conscripts. Or how middle/upper class "kids" get CO status at such a higher rate the those from poor families? Would things really be that much different without the draft?
 
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The idea that its the poor and minorities that are over represented is a lie, the only group significantly over represented in the combat arms in White Southerners, and while Yaleys often find ways of getting out in terms of sheer numbers its small fry.
 
Then again, there wouldn't be as much desertion. The US Armed Forces is the finest military force on this planet - but the MPs have their hands full with some 18-year-old who can't accept the fact that he's in the military, and you don't sneak off base to make out with your girlfirend whenever you feel like it.
That really isn't as serious a problem as the media plays it up to be. Maybe a couple incidents in a given months, and always sorted out, one way or another.
 
Then again, there wouldn't be as much desertion. The US Armed Forces is the finest military force on this planet - but the MPs have their hands full with some 18-year-old who can't accept the fact that he's in the military, and you don't sneak off base to make out with your girlfirend whenever you feel like it.
... or worse, to screw an MP's girlfriend (no joke, it was in most of the papers in South Florida). Feel very sorry for said MP, given he's the one who caught them. Both twits are very lucky that he was to professional to shoot them, or even get as rough as the more imaginative 'journalists' want to pretend.
 
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