Conscription/Volunteer Force

Compulsory military service typically used to raise troops during time of war or national emergency. Conscription stands in opposition to the notion of a volunteer military force, in which troops choose to serve of their own accord.

The U.S. tradition of volunteer military service dates to the very founding of the country. Many of the troops who fought during the American Revolution were volunteer state militia, and the rebels resisted a draft even during the lowest points of the war. Before the late 1940s, the United States resorted to conscription only in severe crises, and each time the draft generated controversy and debate.

President Abraham Lincoln instituted a draft during the Civil War because of critical manpower shortages in the volunteer Union Army. Thousands of men in New York City rioted in protest. When the United [Page 158]States resorted to a draft during World War I, opposition to the idea was so severe that Congress enacted laws that forbade speaking against it. Even in World War II, there were opponents of conscription.

Opposition to the draft persisted throughout the Cold War even as escalating tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union led to the only peacetime draft in American history. In 1956, Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson proposed ending the draft, whereas President Dwight Eisenhower called for making the draft universal. In 1964, Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater proposed an end to the draft, but the military opposed the idea.

In the 1960s, academics such as Alan Greenspan and Milton Friedman joined politicians in calling for an all-volunteer force. Friedman, a conservative economist, noted that a compulsory draft produced inequity, waste, and denial of freedom. A universal service plan such as Eisenhower's would be worse than a draft because it would regiment all, not just the military. John Kenneth Galbraith, a liberal economist, agreed.

The Vietnam War generated the largest antidraft protests since the Civil War. It also raised questions about the quality of a draft-based military force. Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon made an all-volunteer force a campaign issue in 1968. Opposition to the idea arose from Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey and the military. After Nixon was elected president, he named Thomas Gates to head a commission that recommended the end of the draft. In 1973, Congress ended the draft; the last American to be drafted entered the service on June 30, 1973. Although the draft itself was abolished, young men were still required to register with the Selective Service.

No longer able to call up draftees as needed, the armed forces had to recruit and retain the forces they required. However, the military remained unpopular in the aftermath of Vietnam, and reenlistments were as low as 10%. The all-volunteer force started slowly, with poor pay and benefits, and it looked as if an all-volunteer military was a bad idea.

Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan saved the all-volunteer force by increasing pay by a total of 25% to 30% during their terms in office and by improving the education and vocational benefits the military offered. In exchange, enlistment commitments were lengthened to five years, producing better-trained soldiers. The value of the improvements made during the late 1970s and 1980s were demonstrated by the U.S. military's outstanding performance in the 1991 Gulf War.

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