Should Enlistment Be Mandatory?

                                                       Should Enlistment Be Mandatory?

            Will America be the last country to instate the mandatory army service? This country is based off of freedom and now some Americans believe that a 2-year mandatory army service is the solution to our problems. “Would you like to see crime, teenage pregnancy and substance abuse rates decline? No, this is not an advertisement for a magic pill; this is an argument for mandatory military service” (Armstrong Williams
Monday, June 19, 2006).  I would have to agree with them because not many people are willing to fight for what they believe in, everyone wants the benefits but are not willing to pay for them. This is why America is seen as a week country filled with spineless playboys. Army service should be instated for American high school graduates who are not attending college. With a strong military background I believe that crime rate will dramatically decrease, boost the economy, and the unemployment rate would lower to near zero percent.

            America is not the only country that is considering a mandatory army service. In fact “Mandatory military service is practiced in Israel, South Korea, Greece, Algeria, Hungary, Germany, Croatia, Armenia, Switzerland, Turkey, Taiwan, Chile and Nicaragua” (Kimbal Ross Binder Nov 9, 2003). Upon graduation you will have the choice of going to college in which you must graduate or serving 2 years in the army where you will be paid and have full benefits. Sounds like a good deal to me rather than living with my parents and working a dead end job. Millions of men and women will benefit from army service. For example a troubled teenager will go into the army where they will give him/her the tools to become an educated law abiding citizen of his community. Without army service this person would have most likely ended up in jail or on well fair now they have a great head start at life.

            “I work with soldiers every day in a classroom setting. Many of these soldiers are fresh out of high school or have already served at least two years. They are mature. They are respectful. They are wise beyond their years. They are disciplined. The same cannot be said for a majority of 18-25 year old "adults" who have never served” (Michael John McCrae, Got Teens?) This is why I believe that crime rate will go down because if the army is so disciplined then who is going to break the law after their service is done?

            Many Americans have very different feelings about this topic but there is only one right answer to the magical question vote for mandatory army service. With the facts stated above you can easily see why mandatory service will dramatically improve our most important part of society teenagers. After all they are the future. Mandatory service has been discussed for many years but never instated. I believe this to be because Americans have been living the good life while other countries are laughing at us. With a stronger military background this country will achieve many great things while improving on our week points.

 

 Sources

Armstrong, Williams  Mandatory Military Service Would Benefit the U.S. (2006).

Binder Ross Kimbal  Mandatory Service? Sir, No Sir!    (2003).