Ellen MacArthur wrote:
"thunder" wrote
| Asking a few to risk it all, over, and over, and over,
| is bull****.

Nobody held a gun to their head and made them enlist. Nobody holds a gun to their head and makes them re-up.
Duh. They do it because they're patriots.

Is that the only reason? Hm. While I am patriotic, I served for 21
years for a host of other reasons. You get a nice retirement; you get
good educational benefits (the main reason that I joined back in 1984,
BTW. I was a starving college student.); you get medical, dental, cheap
life insurance, a chance to see the world, adventure, and a sense on
comeraderie.

What do the soldiers themselves say?

"With an improving economy in 2004 as measured by unemployment rate,
recruiters have experienced challenges to signing up new recruits.
Although access to post-high school opportunities has expanded in
recent years, research suggests that the Service recruiting campaigns
are having an impact on the youth of our country. Among today's
youth, the military is perceived as providing opportunities, furthering
education, helping individuals grow and mature, and contributing to the
country."

http://www.dod.gov/prhome/poprep2004...ons/index.html

Some people do it because it's the only way to break out of the slums,
or to get trained on a certain job, or for many, many other reasons.

You hold their hands like they were little kids. You don't give them any credit.

You've obviously never commanded a military unit. Sometimes, even
often, it's very much like parenting young children.

You act like they're stupid and helpless.This insults them. Your as bad as Senator Kerry.

Personally, I think a draft would be a good thing. With an
all-volunteer military you end up with a military class much like the
Romans had. Diluting it by rotating non-professionals through is not a
bad thing. And sharing the burden is the right thing to do. You are not
considering, for example, the impact of multiple deployments on
military families, among other things (and from the party whose mantra
is 'family values.' LOL!). And most enlisted soldiers do come from
poorer socio-economic backgrounds.

That's one reason why officers get commissioned through multiple
sources. The fear is that if all officers only come through the service
academies, there's a much higher likelihood of a coup, or other 'bad'
stuff happening. If you dilute the officers from the academies with
ROTC, OCS, direct, and other commissioning sources, this is less likely
to occur. A draft, or a national service requirement, can serve the
same purpose. Deferments should be excluded. That would mean that even
Dick Cheney would have to serve.

I find it amusing that the people who have never served seem to have
the strongest opinions about the military.

So now this election now becomes a referendum on John Kerry in some
people's minds. LOL! The stupidity of some people never fails to amuse
me.