Sen. Boxer proposes deploying National Guard at schools

[OldDem2012]

60. But EVERYONE "participated" in the selection process whether you wanted to or not....

...and the idea of being selected and possibly ending up in Vietnam was a very real fear in those days. By and large, draftees believed the war in Vietnam to be unjust and the loss of life to be unwarranted.

The all-volunteer nature of today's US armed forces ensures that the vast majority of folks who join today are doing so willingly. That's a big difference from feeling that you've been forced into the service to fight a war for reasons with which you totally disagree.

I find your comments that having to serve in the military "does not mean combat training", and that "combat deployment could be reserved for those who choose to reenlist" to be incredibly naive. Once you're in, you'll get combat training whether you like it or not, and you'll deploy when they want you to deploy, first enlistment or not.

Additionally, where are you going to get the budget dollars for an already bloated Defense Department to train and equip hundreds of thousands of draftees? Which earned benefit programs are you willing to cut to make this happen?