One facet of the Iraq War debate is the military draft.
Bush Administration officials have dismissed the idea of a need for a draft, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld calling the idea a "scare tactic" plied by administration critics. by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter
One facet of the Iraq War debate is the military draft.
Bush Administration officials have dismissed the idea of a need for a draft, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld calling the idea a "scare tactic" plied by administration critics.
Whether a scare tactic or not, bills have been introduced in Congress and the draft figured largely in a recent anti-war campaign across the country.
Politically, the draft is back.
In actuality, it ended in 1973 with the inception of the All-Volunteer armed forces.
The draft was a sensitive issue from the start - ideals of American personal liberties instinctively clash with the specter of enforced regimentation.
Bloody rioting
During the Civil War the draft sparked bloody rioting in New York City and a familiar-sounding charge was heard -rich man's war and a poor's man fight.
Draftees were allowed to hire substitutes to take their place in the ranks and even just pay a lump sum to escape the draft.
The backlash spilled over into the new century, into new wars.
Defiant college students burning their draft cards is one of the iconic images of the Vietnam War era.
And conscientious objectors have willingly gone to jail in other wars to avoid taking up arms.
One local Congressman who does not want to see the draft return, an improbable scenario, is 2nd District Rep. John Kline, R-Lakeville.
In an opinion piece last December Kline argued the draft would only damage military cohesiveness and camaraderie by filling the ranks with thousands of unwilling soldiers.
In the Statehouse, some lawmakers with military backgrounds give the draft qualified support or a thumbs down.
Imperfect remedy
Sen. Don Betzold, DFL-Fridley, views the draft as an imperfect remedy to the heavy burden imposed on U.S. troops by the Iraq War. "I don't see how you can't have something like that," he said. "We're recycling the same people (troops) over and over and over," he said, adding even if the draft were instantly running draftees would not appear in Iraq for months and months.
Betzold, who recently retired as a colonel from the U.S. Army Reserves Judge Advocate General's Corps, joined Army ROTC in the late 1960s as a college student - a very unpopular thing to do at the time, he explained.
But if he was going to be drafted, he would serve as an officer.
He did not intend to be screamed at by some sergeant from Mississippi as a private, he explained.
Rep. Lynn Wardlow, R-Eagan, explained he probably would not cheer nor criticize Congress if it re-enacted the draft.
Wardlow, a combat veteran who retired from the U.S Marine Corps Reserve as a lieutenant colonel, said the soldiers he served with in Vietnam were all volunteers. He spoke to draftees. "Some were bitter. Some weren't," he said.
More politics than need
Rep. Bob Dettmer, R-Forest Lake, a military intelligence officer in the U.S Army Reserves who served in Kuwait, views talk of the draft as stemming more from politics than military need.
The specialized training in the military argues against the use of draftees - the training takes too long, Dettmer argued.
"I don't think we'll ever need as large a force as during World War II," he said, giving another reason why he doesn't favor the draft. The big thing wanted is support back home. And right now the support is there, opined Dettmer.
The man who use to command Dettmer basically agrees with his former subordinate. James Noll, of Forest Lake, just recently retired a colonel from a 31-year U.S. Army career, serving both active duty and in the Reserves.
Noll is a Vietnam-era draftee, entering the Army after a brief start as a teacher. "I turned in my report cards and left for the army the same day," he said. Noll served as an infantry officer in the elite 101st Airborne in Vietnam.
It was "unbelievable for physical endurance," he said of the service. You carried your body weight on your back in gear and climbed up mountains, explained Noll. "You lived like an animal," he said.
Soldiers were cut off: no e-mails, cell phones, nothing.
Nearly all were draftees
Nearly all the men he commanded in his platoon were draftees, said Noll. And they did a good job.
But some of the soldiers had eighth, ninth, and tenth grade educations, explained Noll.
A 1991 Gulf War veteran, Noll described the U.S Army that took on the well equipment, battle hardened Iraq Army as superb. But also fleeting. "When Desert Storm ended we just took the Army apart," he said of downsizing.
Still, Noll does not foresee the draft coming back anytime in the near future.
It would be "a long ways down the road," he said.
Bush Administration officials have dismissed the idea of a need for a draft, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld calling the idea a "scare tactic" plied by administration critics. by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter
One facet of the Iraq War debate is the military draft.
Bush Administration officials have dismissed the idea of a need for a draft, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld calling the idea a "scare tactic" plied by administration critics.
Whether a scare tactic or not, bills have been introduced in Congress and the draft figured largely in a recent anti-war campaign across the country.
Politically, the draft is back.
In actuality, it ended in 1973 with the inception of the All-Volunteer armed forces.
The draft was a sensitive issue from the start - ideals of American personal liberties instinctively clash with the specter of enforced regimentation.
Bloody rioting
During the Civil War the draft sparked bloody rioting in New York City and a familiar-sounding charge was heard -rich man's war and a poor's man fight.
Draftees were allowed to hire substitutes to take their place in the ranks and even just pay a lump sum to escape the draft.
The backlash spilled over into the new century, into new wars.
Defiant college students burning their draft cards is one of the iconic images of the Vietnam War era.
And conscientious objectors have willingly gone to jail in other wars to avoid taking up arms.
One local Congressman who does not want to see the draft return, an improbable scenario, is 2nd District Rep. John Kline, R-Lakeville.
In an opinion piece last December Kline argued the draft would only damage military cohesiveness and camaraderie by filling the ranks with thousands of unwilling soldiers.
In the Statehouse, some lawmakers with military backgrounds give the draft qualified support or a thumbs down.
Imperfect remedy
Sen. Don Betzold, DFL-Fridley, views the draft as an imperfect remedy to the heavy burden imposed on U.S. troops by the Iraq War. "I don't see how you can't have something like that," he said. "We're recycling the same people (troops) over and over and over," he said, adding even if the draft were instantly running draftees would not appear in Iraq for months and months.
Betzold, who recently retired as a colonel from the U.S. Army Reserves Judge Advocate General's Corps, joined Army ROTC in the late 1960s as a college student - a very unpopular thing to do at the time, he explained.
But if he was going to be drafted, he would serve as an officer.
He did not intend to be screamed at by some sergeant from Mississippi as a private, he explained.
Rep. Lynn Wardlow, R-Eagan, explained he probably would not cheer nor criticize Congress if it re-enacted the draft.
Wardlow, a combat veteran who retired from the U.S Marine Corps Reserve as a lieutenant colonel, said the soldiers he served with in Vietnam were all volunteers. He spoke to draftees. "Some were bitter. Some weren't," he said.
More politics than need
Rep. Bob Dettmer, R-Forest Lake, a military intelligence officer in the U.S Army Reserves who served in Kuwait, views talk of the draft as stemming more from politics than military need.
The specialized training in the military argues against the use of draftees - the training takes too long, Dettmer argued.
"I don't think we'll ever need as large a force as during World War II," he said, giving another reason why he doesn't favor the draft. The big thing wanted is support back home. And right now the support is there, opined Dettmer.
The man who use to command Dettmer basically agrees with his former subordinate. James Noll, of Forest Lake, just recently retired a colonel from a 31-year U.S. Army career, serving both active duty and in the Reserves.
Noll is a Vietnam-era draftee, entering the Army after a brief start as a teacher. "I turned in my report cards and left for the army the same day," he said. Noll served as an infantry officer in the elite 101st Airborne in Vietnam.
It was "unbelievable for physical endurance," he said of the service. You carried your body weight on your back in gear and climbed up mountains, explained Noll. "You lived like an animal," he said.
Soldiers were cut off: no e-mails, cell phones, nothing.
Nearly all were draftees
Nearly all the men he commanded in his platoon were draftees, said Noll. And they did a good job.
But some of the soldiers had eighth, ninth, and tenth grade educations, explained Noll.
A 1991 Gulf War veteran, Noll described the U.S Army that took on the well equipment, battle hardened Iraq Army as superb. But also fleeting. "When Desert Storm ended we just took the Army apart," he said of downsizing.
Still, Noll does not foresee the draft coming back anytime in the near future.
It would be "a long ways down the road," he said.
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