Mass Army

Large-scale military force consisting of conscripts, as contrasted with a smaller professional force of highly trained troops. Mass armies typically rely on superior numbers to overcome their enemy's superior training and weaponry.

In most major wars, the United States has relied on a mass army created by the draft to defend the country and engage the enemy. The demise of the mass army in the United States is associated with the ending of the draft near the end of the Vietnam War. In 1975, Congress refused to extend the nation's draft law, and conscription ended on July 1 of that year. Since then, the U.S. armed forces have become an all-volunteer force, recruiting individuals with promises of education and training. This smaller professional force has emphasized the development of advanced weaponry and the efficient use of limited resources.

The replacement of mass armies by professional military forces has raised questions of ethics and social responsibility concerning modern warfare. For example, technological advances in military hardware allow an attacker to strike at unseen targets miles away, making the act of killing more abstract and thus easier to justify morally. In addition, civil participation in and respect for government institutions can be undermined in a society in which only a handful of paid professionals is responsible for defending the state. National security becomes less a part of the shared experiences of citizens and more the province of a faceless government.