Is Our All-Volunteer Army Dying?
By Jim E. Reames (09/17/03)
One of the happiest days of my life was in August 1968 when I watched a second lieutenant sign my DD-214 military discharge paper, thus permitting me to leave post for the last time. When our count down to discharge day hit 99 we were referred to as being “… two digit midgets.” And when we hit 9 days we were “one digit midgets.”
In fact no “short timer” was much of anything at all among his peers unless he had, carried, and showed off his fancy “short timer’s calendar.” These were usually the drawing of a nude woman that when the last few blank squares were inked in made the picture complete. You can use your imagination to visualize precisely where we had the last ten blank squares, and finally the last three. The jest of our conversation was that we were “…so short that we’d need a parachute to jump off a dime.”
At Ft. Hood, Texas there was an act of rebellion that we called, “…the duffel bag drag” because some draftees…on their way out the door…would tie a rope to their duffel bag, then speed past the main gate, dragging that green canvas bag behind their car before we military police could stop and arrest them. Then on that eventful day it was my turn. I remember how a common grunt could get as much as $5,000 for re-enlisting. Those with specialized training got $10K. But to do so meant being sent back “across the pond” to Vietnam. Needless to say, few draftees re-enlisted. And for that matter few regular Army soldiers did either.
In August of 1968 (just like today) we were at war. Those of us getting out were replaced by a new cycle of fresh meat recruits who had just completed basic training, after being forcibly inducted. Meanwhile, countless thousands of other young men were burning their draft cards, going underground with fake identification, learning how to live on food stamps, harvesting their own marijuana, and/or leaving the United States for safer sanctuaries in Canada. They would have been forced to stay there except President Ford gave them all amnesty of criminal charges, “to heal the nation” after Nixon split the White House scene.
We then saw the abandonment of America’s military draft and birth of the “all volunteer Army” in 1973 at the end of the Vietnam War. As a silent observer of our armed services since that time it has been of interest to watch and listen to the many reasons why young adults enlist. For the majority, the reasons seem to pivot around the kingpins of either getting a post-high school education and/or the hope of better job opportunities in the adult world. Others join because most of the opportunities in the adult world amount to temporary jobs with low pay and no benefits. Other individuals (for example, police officers and schoolteachers) seem to sign up in the National Guard for the extra pay that supplements a less than adequate salary. Until 911 today’s military was the preferred job placement for many of America’s middle-class young adults. That is because the redeeming virtue of being a member of our “all volunteer army” had been the commonly held belief that the likelihood of field combat is slim.
Now, in a post 9-11 world all of that has changed. Being in the “all volunteer Army” is dangerous, inconvenient, and demanding. The pay is bad and it is a lonely life in a far away place. Add to that the expanding shortage of supplies, military fighting equipment, or back-to-back military campaigns and the thought of returning to normal civilian life is no different today than it was for us back in 1968. Thus, tens of thousands of today’s military personnel are counting days to simply get out! There is nothing wrong with that desire except for the reality this nation has no military draft. Gone are the days of seeing elite’s like Elvis Presley submitting to induction. That’s too bad, too, because I wander how loud the flaming liberals would shout if they were to get written orders to report for forced military conscription or face criminal prosecution. In fact it, somehow now, seems practically un-American to demand that the young men and women of this nation me made to serve in the armed forced for the interests of this nation. Heaven forbid that freedom is no longer free.
What I still consider to be quite disgusting is that back in the 1960s and 70s, when tens of thousands of us submitted to the military draft (and then served our country with two years active duty followed up by an additional four years of military reserve duty) a large segment of my own generation refused to go. In fact, their verbal slogan…together with a clinched over the head fist…was “Hell no! I won’t go!” followed by the public burning of their draft card. After that came their public burning of our American flag.
Back then, just as it still is today, many of those “draft dodgers” demanded a political voice. They considered people like Jane Fonda and Bill Clinton to be their icons of political perfection. Their cause and their idealism gave birth to the present day propaganda that spews forth from both Hollywood and the major news media movement, the truth be damned. To me, it all seems very much un-American. It is hypocritical. It is cowardly. And it is an insult to those who did submit.
Well, it seems as if the more we change, the more we remain the same because the United States Military is in the same quandary that it has been in in the past. To quote retired General Barry McCaffrey, former head of the U.S. Southern Command and division commander during Operation Desert Storm, “We as a nation have done it before at the peak of our power. We broke the Army after World War II, and paid for it in Korea. We broke the Army after Vietnam, and paid for it with the ‘hollow force’ of the 1970s. We are doing it again, with an Army that is overcommitted and underfunded. And if we end up in an unprovoked war with North Korea, then the United States could pay a very heavy price as a result.”
I compare this to the financial crisis of California, where President George W. Bush may wake up and find himself in the same cornered position—concerning our military—as Governor Gray Davis finds himself cornered concerning the California general budget. Whether Bush likes it or not he has a silent festering crisis on his hands as the result of a thirty year long pacifist attitude that gave birth to the “all volunteer Army” in the first place. Quite frankly, the military draft should never have been abandoned by the Pentagon or by Congress. If my colleagues and I were good enough to serve in the 1960s and early 1970s, then so should my grandsons be good enough for forced military induction today. Those unwilling to defend this nation’s national security interests for a period of six years (two active and four inactive) should be sent to prison or forced to flee this country to avoid criminal prosecution.
What we Americans need to realize, the sooner the better, is our “all volunteer Army” program is a failure in a day and age of Twenty-first Century asymmetric war. That’s a hard pill to swallow. But the ugly truth is a day is coming when, one by one, tens of thousands of active military personnel are going to refuse to re-enlist. Then what will the Pentagon do? Moreover, that day of decision will land while George W. Bush is still a resident of the White House. He is already being forced to extend the length of service of most of the men and women who are now in uniform. So what will Bush do one year from now? Will he extend that service yet again? What will he do if there is a new hostile front, say in Korea? How long can the “all volunteer Army” sustain combat hardships without backup replacements? How long will the equipment hold up? How long will it be until our entire military is likened to a cell phone battery that can no longer hold an electric charge?
Personally, and based upon a SWAG, I give it about one more year. Then there will be a genuine national crisis in the Pentagon. Because you do not need general’s stars on your shoulder to visualize just how many “short timer’s calendars” there are being made in today’s army.
This is far different than, when between the years 1942 and 1945, when the entire national thrust was set upon victory…at any cost. Today, America is being deliberately divided. There is political confrontation at every street corner. In my 1992 novel “Valley of the Dry Bones” which is now being offered free of charge on the Internet, I referred to this as “Direct Conflict, International.” The battle is as much for political power in Washington, D. C. as it is against terrorism. Meanwhile, our “all volunteer Army” is growing more and more tired. Asymmetric warriors who are re-writing the rules of military engagement are popping our soldiers off one, two, and three at a time just about every day. For those reasons, and others, we need to give enormous support to those who wear the uniform of our armed forces. We need to individually thank them in public, and write letters of appreciation, and keep them all in our daily prayers. They need to know that we are grateful and that we truly do care. But even after all that, many tens of thousands of them will soon take off their uniforms so they can return to civilian life---with no replacements being lined up.
Dare George W. Bush re-instate the draft on his watch? Even though he has done a great job with what resources he has if he, now, attempts to enlarge our military forces there will be a ground swell of public protest that will sweep him from power. And if he ignores the crisis then he will derelict his sworn duty to protect and defend this nation. As the Commander and Chief of our armed forces he is between a rock and a hard spot (because a liberal Congress will not do its job correctly) at a time when North Korea seems to be itching for a fight because they see America’s predicament and are unafraid to capitalize upon it. At the same time Don Rumsfield, Secretary of Defense, publicly opposes a reinstatement of the draft. Meanwhile, a certain United States Senator in New York is waiting semi-silently in the political shadows…like a shark swimming circles…awaiting her opportunity to strike.
Regardless of what the elected officials say and claim, the United States of America is in deep trouble and most of us are unwilling to face the facts of life. That is because most of us Americans barely comprehend the facts of life, sheltered by the comfort zones of our national indebtedness. The root of this problem is centered in the false philosophy of the Democratic Party.
How embarrassing it must feel to be a Democrat, always criticizing George W. Bush and never once coming up with workable solutions, then lapping up more energy and power as the result of that criticism, like a dog returning to its own vomit.
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