Students are talking about the draft and they’re talking about it in panicked tones, which is understandable if the only information they’re privy to is that it’s being considered. A bill called the Universal National Service Act, a proposal to reinstate the draft, was introduced by Democrats in both the Senate and the House last January, but it isn’t likely to pass soon.
Representative Charles Rangel of New York spearheaded this legislation in the house and garnered support from five other reps. He convinced Senator Ernest Hollings of South Carolina to present it to the Senate but no senators co-sponsored the bill. However, this past week Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel came out in support of the draft claiming, like Hollings and Rangel, that the military is socially stratified. They believe that if the draft is reinstated the upper classes will offer less support for this war because they, too, will be forced to serve. They argue that currently the military attracts primarily minorities and the under privileged, who sign up to access the benefits and opportunities. By reinstating the draft, they hope to reposition the military to include representation from all corners of America.
After the bill was introduced it was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, which hasn’t taken it seriously into consideration for lack of support. Ilene Zeldin, the press secretary for Sen. Hollings, said Hollings is realistic about the bill’s chances of passing. “They sit if they don’t want it to move along,” she said of the committee.
John McCain and Susan Collins are members of the committee, and neither senator supports the bill. A spokesperson in McCain’s office said the bill isn’t going anywhere and that McCain feels there’s no need for a draft.
Whether there is a need or not is debatable. With troop strength weakening in Iraq it seems unlikely America can accomplish its goals there, especially in the face of the recent insurgent uprisings.
The military has relied heavily on reservist and national guardsmen to support the Iraq war. USM experienced this trend with a loss of one of its students, who was deployed in the Maine National Guard just two months ago and then killed in an explosion this past week.
Generally, the army shoots for “a rule of threes” and divides their troops strategically to ensure that a third of their soldiers are deployed while a third are training and the other third are resting. During this war the army has resorted to a rule of halves and the soldiers who normally would stay overseas for six months are now staying on average a year and sometimes more.
Sen. Collins is fighting for the return of one fleet of army reservists who have been deployed for the past two and half out of four years. These soldiers served for 16 months straight.
There is no doubt the army is overdue for some relief and that troops must remain in Iraq until stability is restored, but the likelihood of the draft acting as the answer to this problem is slim. Unless Sen. Hagel’s support acts as the lighter fluid for a draft fire the bill is bound to sit like a wet log in a cold firepit.
Christy McKinnon can be contacted at [email protected]