Many independents and moderate republicans beat the ‘yellow elephant drum" and say there will be no draft to support the Iraq war. I say BULLSHIT.
WHY?
Base Realignment and Closure Acts (BRAC Acts)
Presidents Reagan signed into law four rounds of BRAC and President Bush signed into law one round of BRAC. This fact is important because these Republican laws are why our military strength is diminished. The strategy for our Department of Defense since the end of the Cold war was to fight a two theater strategy meaning we would maintain the combat strength to fight two wars in two different parts of the world at the same time. When I served in Desert Storm we had 16 Combat Divisions and support forces on the ground in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. We still had available, uncommitted, 5 Infantry Divisions:
7th Ft. Ord, California
10th Ft. Drum, New York
2nd Korea
6th Ft. Wainwright, Alaska
25th Hawaii
We actually could maintain a two-war strategy in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.
Join me on the flip for the very bad news Republicans will not talk about in the company of voters.
We currently have a total of 10 Army combat divisions. The Marine Corps maintains two combat divisions. The two-theater strategy remains part of our defense doctrine; the only problem is there is no adequate force to sustain it.
Don’t forget these numbers. Bush said last week he would increase the number of troops in Afghanistan. Also remember that Congress approved the funding for two additional Army combat divisions last year. The Republican Congress reduced U.S. military forces,a Democratic Congress increased the military force strength.
VOLUNTEER ARMY
Where will these troops come from in a Volunteer Army?
Troop strength comes from two primary sources - enlistments and re-enlistments.
Re-enlistments:
A military career is based on 20 years of service. Twenty years earns a retirement. The term for members that have served their initial enlistment, 3 or 4 years, but have not completed 20 years of service is "mid-career". Mid-career re-enlistment goals are only at 46% meaning 54% of our experienced service members are calling it quits.
Enlistments:
1.The Army is currently reporting a shortfall of 35% for new enlistments. I retired 12 years ago: then and now people of color made up more than 50% of the Army. Current enrollment of African Americans is down 50%.
2.In an effort to get more troops in the Army raised the age to enlist from 35 to 42. It seems ironic that a person could retire from the Army and draw Social Security at the same time-age 62. The Army has a stated goal of 85% Tier I recruits meaning recruits that have completed at least high school. The current number is 71%. There are now "moral waivers" for citizens who have more than 2 misdemeanors or one felony. But, of course, if a trooper is found out to be gay or lesbian, this "moral" issue is still not waived. 3.For several years the Bush Administration has directed a "back door draft". A back door draft is keeping soldiers on active duty after their term of agreed-upon service is completed. The other trick the Bushites employ is tour extensions. Generally, the 12-month tour of combat duty is extended to 15 months; some soldiers have served 4 and even 5 tours of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan most of them 15 months.
Where will we get the troops to prosecute the war in Iraq, increase troops in Afghanistan, add two combat divisions and then invade Iran after we’ve bombed the shit out of it and pissed them off even more than our international trash talk has already done? Where will that surge come from ya think? (FYI, the troop strength of a combat division is 20,000.)
THE DRAFT
The draft system itself was born from the Selective Training and service Act of 1940 signed into law by FDR. This law created a separate federal agency titled the selective Service System-(SSS). The stated purpose was to draft men to fill vacancies in the armed forces, which cannot be filled through voluntary service. The country eliminated the draft in 1973 but still registers young men who reach the age of 18.
Rick Maze of the "Army Times" quoted McCain in Oct 16, 2007, just 6 months ago, as saying "I would consider a draft if it could be made fairer than the Viet-Nam era version in which many avoided any risk of being called up using deferments".
It would be easy to eliminate draft loopholes and McCain knows it. When I voluntarily entered active duty in July 1966, my Marine Corps boot camp mates were either country boys like myself or inner city young men. This is an easy fix to fill the current shortages.
Get this – a new draft would include everyone, men and women, under age 42. Just like Dick Cheney during Vietnam, a bunch of folks would see pregnancy and parenthood a damn fine way out of going to war. A new population boom, America? Well, we’d need all those babies for the Second Hundred Year’s War.
In the 60’s, a term of drafted service was 2 years. The U.S. could follow the European model of 18 months: boot camp for 8 weeks, combat training for 8 weeks followed by a year in Iraq. For political reasons 18 months sounds a lot better than 2 years.
Right now, a young man can sign up for a combat job for three years and receive a $40,000 bonus after his service is over. (Even though they carry guns, shoot people, and are dying just like their male colleagues, women cannot sign up for a combat job and its bonus) There is another bonus option that offers up to $65,000 for college. These monetary incentives are not working. We can’t even buy an Army.
With all the documented shortages and the expected planned troop increases, a draft is the only option open to McCain, and he fucking knows it. Every thoughtful citizen can add up the numbers and conclude what McCain has not had the courage to tell voters. A draft is the only way to continue and expand his war.
(Earlier edition crossposted at Texas Kaos, y'all's kissin' cousin; but it's this old soldier's first diary ever with the Big Boys, so be easy on me!)