The fact that the all-volunteer military was TWICE as large as it is now without resorting to the draft should also be a hint.
..and...we had the same deployment concerns at the time?
We don't have a need for the draft right now. We currently have enough people in the armed services, and they aren't having recruiting problems.
These reporters throw out this B. S. like the draft is imminent. However, it's obvious that it's not. What would be the point having a plan to reinstate the draft, when we don't have the equipment to arm all those additional soldiers. There's no money in the budget to pay all those soldiers.
Getting prepared to expand the military by a huge amount involves drasticly ramping up production of weapons, body armor, troop carriers, and supplies. It involves preparing bases to act as training facilities for all the new troops. It involves expanding living quarters or at least making existing quarters ready on bases to house all the new draftees.
That isn't hapening.
The only thing there is any evidence of is that the Selective Service is continueing to do their ongoing job of being prepared if the draft ever becomes necessisary again. They aren't staffing up, however they are filling positions that are becomming vacant.
Their suggestion to make changes to allow for drafting of women, and somewhat older people makes sense from their perspective. The military has changed. They are looking for different skill sets than they once were. They place a higher value on computer and technical skills than they once did. They want to expand the pool of people they can draft so they can get the skill sets they need if they ever have to reinstate the draft. That's their job, to be prepared.
I agree that draft reinstatement would be highly unlikely anytime soon given the current deployment needs/force levels. Throw in a terrorist attack based elsewhere, or the North Korean situation going from a simmer to an all out boil...I think all bets are off.
How is this a different situation now than it has been for many years? We do have more forces committed than normal, so it could possibly take a smaller war breaking out to cause the need for the draft, than if we didn't have those soldiers committed. However, a full scale war with Korea or China or some other country has always been a reason that the draft might have to be reinstated.
The reporters bringing it up now don't have evidence that there are any plans to reinstate the draft. They're just using FUD to try and scare people.
