Pros And Cons Of Draft Argumentative Essay Sample

Abstract

Many countries in the world have compulsory military service usually for 18-year-olds that lasts for a period of one to three years. Services performed range from combat roles to logistic and intelligence roles. Countries such as US grapple with the issue of draft because proponents believe that it increase the military strength and develops the strength of a character youth but opponents state that it risks breeding militarism. As for me I believe that compulsory training is very crucial to US as a country because its pros overweight cons. It’s something that we should consider embracing in these current times of emergencies and high levels of insecurity.
I greatly support the idea of compulsory military service for individual who are eighteen years old because the program provides so many benefits to both the individual and the country. The most important benefit the draft is that it creates adequate defensive force. When there is a draft, it gives a nation a military force that enables it defends its interests adequately. This implies that there will always be enough trained soldiers to meet the demands of war should a country be attacked. It also sets foundation of keeping the citizens of a country sufficiently protected from any external attack. Apart from protecting that particular country alone, these soldiers can be send on missions in other countries that are war torn to provide back up to that country’s army. They can also be used in rescuing people in times of emergencies like when there is an outbreak of a disease. A good example was illustrated when president Obama sent thousands of soldiers in West Africa to deal with the Ebola outbreak that was threatening human population. US soldiers have also been sent on peace keeping mission in Afghanistan and this means that we need more soldiers to protect citizens left behind.
Research by Krasny and Sokolik (2010) supports the idea that draft spurs a higher number of volunteers selecting people to serve the military. When mandatory enlistment occurs, many volunteers of long-term military services come out and such situations enable volunteers to choose which branch of the military that they want to serve, a characteristic many drafts do not allow. When this happens, an individual may serve the country more patriotically since he or she is comfortable serving in a position that best suits him of her (Card & Cardoso, 2011). Such a person may also serve the country for a long period of time because they are proud and happy at the positions that they are serving.
Draft provides a certain level of societal equality in a nation since a cast majority of citizens would qualify for mandatory military service. This leads to the policy equalizing the social and the financial status that each household has. In this system, everyone is included in the service and everyone faces the real battle of war weather very rich or poor. The poor do not feel that they are being misused because the rich are also included in military hence in a certain way, the draft provides that equality between the rich and the poor.
Compulsory military service help build individual character. This is true since it offers invaluable experiences whereby a youth enters the stage of adulthood (Krasny & Sokolik, 2010). This shift in perspective help the young to see life differently, foster a great sense of purpose and inspire the young to work hard in the future. According to Krasny and Sokolik (2010), character traits are also acquired since the youth are taught self-discipline, leadership skills and respect for authority. Mandatory military service also provides valuable skills that could be applied in a marketplace when one leaves the army. People train for drivers, chefs and engineers and they could apply these skills in real life and in the long-run reduce unemployment thereby lowering the crime rate and help the economy. This program is also significant in the education sector since military placement exam encourages school work.
Mandatory military recruitment has also some demerits to both the service and a person as a whole since the quality of military is compromised. Most people who are admitted into the military under this system are inexperienced in a manner that a soldier may give a below average ability in a combat situation. A case of experience like this in the front line cases so many fatalities hence a country loosing so many soldiers in a battle field. So the age factor is also important when a draft is taking place. People involved should also consider physical qualities of a person before admitting him or her in the military (Apecsec.org, 2014).
Compulsory military service limits the rights of a person. In the United States, one is guaranteed to pursue happiness and having this system violet such guarantees. A person does not have a final say in this process and feels forced to serve second-class service. When such people get in a real battle filed, they are likely to compromise the situation since they are not fighting willingly but they are forced. It’s also tricky because one may decide to work with the enemy by revealing secrets of a country since they have been forced into the military. It also creates a second-class citizen and this happens when a person is dropped because of health reasons. When such a person gets back in the society, he or she can be treated as second-class citizen since they may criticize them that they can’t serve efficiently like others. So before proposing this system, choices should be made by weighing advantages and disadvantages of this matter. Military services have an effect on university education and careers since a lot of time is spent in training than a person building his or her career. In US, one may be admitted in the military immediately he or she is through with high school regardless of examination excellence. Such a person might have another ambition of continuing with university education and building a career but he or she will be distracted with admission into the military (Apecsec.org, 2014).
Compulsory training may also prove to be expensive to the government since it spends a lot of money in financing the program. This affects the country’s financial situation because offering military training is a very costly affair and considering this situation that every youth must go through compulsory military, the government spends a lot of money in funding the process. In conclusion, draft is important to a country very much since it has so many advantages. Although there are demerits, let’s look at the merits because they overweigh the disadvantages, I strongly suggest the introduction of draft in the US since we are going to benefit very much as a country Everyone wants to be secure and embracing this system will provide the adequate security that we want. Let’s not focus on the disadvantages but analyze the importance of draft and I can say that we appreciate its importance.

References

Apecsec.org,. (2014). Compulsory Military Service Pros and Cons | APECSEC.org. Retrieved 11 February 2015, from http://apecsec.org/compulsory-military-service-pros-and-cons/
Card, D., & Cardoso, A. (2011). Can compulsory military service increase civilian wages?. Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Krasny, M., & Sokolik, M. E. (2010). Sound ideas. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education