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Related: About this forumAll-volunteer military may desensitize U.S. to war, some fear
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/12/31/178702/all-volunteer-military-may-desensitize.htmlA 1st Infantry Division soldier at a checkpoint in Baqubah, Iraq in 2004.
All-volunteer military may desensitize U.S. to war, some fear
Posted on Monday, December 31, 2012
By Matthew Schofield | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON Before a roadside bomb in Baghdad burned and tore apart Jerry Majetich, before 62 operations put him back together, even before he volunteered for the Marines, then the Army, there were five older brothers whod enlisted and a mother whod served as an Army nurse in Korea.
His family background shaped former Staff Sgt. Majetich, whos now 42 and a single father and investment firm vice president in Jacksonville, Fla. Despite the torment since the 2005 blast, that history is part of what moved his 21-year-old son to consider leaving college to pursue a military career, and his 17-year-old daughter to join her high school Reserve Officers Training Corps.
January marks 40 years since the United States ended the military draft, and an ever smaller slice of the population appears to share Majetichs belief, however. Statistics are rare, but a Department of Defense 2011 Status of Forces survey indicated that 57 percent of active troops today are the children of current or former active or reserve members of the armed forces.
A recent Gallup poll showed that despite the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a much smaller percentage of those whove reached military age since Sept. 11, 2001, have served than in previous decades.
unhappycamper comment: The All-volunteer military was created after the Vietnam adventure ended.
Anti-war sentiments by both drafted and non-drafted soldiers were on full display at that time. Fraggings and drugs. protest marches and simple acts of defiance were the order of the day.
After Vietnam the Department of War decided to bite the bullet and not draft people (who may have on objection to killing people). Since only volunteers were part of the war machine, privatization of mess halls and military housing provided a big-time boost to inserting civilians into the military.
Fast forward 30 years and we we have folks like Halliburton, KBR and Blackwater poisoning soldiers, electrocuting soldiers and killing locals at will.
Yea, this all-volunteer force is a 'winner' on all counts.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)neighbor
(14 posts)At the individual level we may have become desensitized to war, but as a nation we have become more sensitive.
The television plays stock footage whenever there's a road-side bomb that kills enough people to make it newsworthy, maybe Yahoo news or the Wall Street Journal adds a witty headline to capture more attention.
In the age of texts, email and the blogosphere, everyone has a voice or somehow feels more closely connected to current unfolding events.
"I have a cousin that wears his Marine Corps uniform on his Facebook page" or "I have veteran Twitter followers that told me what it's really like" or sentiments to that effect.
Somehow the peanut gallery feels validated or legitimate when injecting their opinions now. (Anyone can be a journalist with enough followers it seems)
As for the children of veterans joining and serving the military, they probably learned the common core values of the military from their parents.
It's my opinion that this isn't a bad thing, serving your country is commonly perceived by those serving as a civic duty.
If anything, the shrinking active military population would show that serving in the military is becoming less popular as time moves on.
As for contractors, it's pretty simple... shrink the force and place a greater demand on it, we still need people in support positions. Hire contractors, once the war's over... good bye contractors. It certainly saves money over paying the salary, healthcare, dental and retirement needs of military support personnel.
unhappycamper
(60,364 posts)Most newspapers had weekly lists of Americans killed in Vietnam.
Almost everyone had an opinion. Anti-war sentiment was rife amongst college age kids (potential draftees).
Tricky Dick was elected the second time on his 'secret plan' to end the war. Tricky Dick resigned in 1974 because of a plumbing problem.
Then came the National Guard student killings at Kent State.
After the Vietnam adventure ended, the DoD circled the wagons and figured out a) how to end the draft and b) keep the fresh meat supply line open. Hence the All-Volunteer military.
In 1983 St. Ronnie took the All-Volunteer military out for a spin in Grenada. (Grenada? Really?)
Since you claim "The television plays stock footage whenever there's a road-side bomb that kills enough people to make it newsworthy, maybe Yahoo news or the Wall Street Journal adds a witty headline to capture more attention. " let me ask you a few questions (no fair using google or Wikipedia for the answers):
1. What's going on in the Helmand province?
2. What's going on at the Baghram AFB?
3. What's going on in the Manas AFB?
4. How many troops does Obama want to leave in Afghanistan after 2014?
Bonus question: What's going on in Okinawa and Guam?
On edit: to correct typo
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)unhappycamper
(60,364 posts)I was kinda hoping for a reply.
THANKS MIRT!!!!1!