In todays society with the push toward gender equality, should the US military require women to sign up for the draft? Why or why not?
I believe that women should be required to sign up for the draft if men are required to do so. The physical demands of modern warfare are ones that women can bear at about the same rate as men. There are already many women serving and risking their lives and I don’t think many people doubt that women “can” do it. Towards William’s point of women not being allowed to engage in direct combat, I think this restriction should be lifted and has already, by the way war is currently waged, been lifted in practice quite a bit. In other words, medics and other support staff members are often in just as much danger as combat soldiers, so the restriction isn’t even accomplishing its goal (which is, I assume, to protect women). However, I agree with Colin that the whole system seems to be something of a dinosaur in terms of enforcement. It’s not clear to me if a draft like that during Vietnam is still something our country would tolerate (for men or women).Via Adam Mordecai.
Sure, but only if you did one of two things: • Allowed women to fulfill roles in which they would engage in direct combat, or; • Set up a separate draft for women (which wouldn’t go a long way towards the whole gender equality point). If women were to register in the same draft as men, but were not allowed to serve in more combat oriented roles (i.e. infantry) you could end up in a situation where the country drafts people (and when the country is in a situation where they need to draft people, it’s so that a lot of them can fill combat roles) and ends up with a disproportionately high number of draftees who can’t actually fill the needed roles because they just aren’t allowed to. So the only way it works is if you allow women to serve in more combat-oriented roles than the military allows them to do today, or you create a different draft to specifically draft women to fill support roles which, again, isn’t exactly the point of gender equality.
Given that many young men don’t actually register with the Selective Service System (I don’t recall doing so myself), I would say probably better to just scrap the whole thing. Wikipedia: The Selective Service registration form states that failure to register is a felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment or a $250,000 fine. In practice, no one has been prosecuted for failure to comply with draft registration since 1986, in part because prosecutions of draft resisters proved counter-productive for the government, and in part because of the difficulty of proving that noncompliance with the law was “knowing and willful.” Many people do not register at all, register late, or change addresses without notifying the Selective Service System. Not registering can (technically) also lead to loss of federal employment, sometimes after the registration window has already passed. However, only a few of such cases have been reported so far. Refusing to register can also cause a loss of eli
I am in favor of a draft for the reasons I laid out in this answer. Politics: Why do U.S. military draft advocates focus on issues unrelated to to the actual functioning of the military? I am not sure if I would favor women being drafted or not. Assuming they go into combat roles. Here’s why. • Weapons. I was an MP, 95B40, (1969-1970) carried a .45 caliber handgun. My female counter parts carried a .38 caliber revolver. They finally settled on a 9mm pistol. But the process was not elegant. I think a 7mm was chosen first and proved inadequate. You don’t want to have different weapons as interchangeability is important. I may need some of your ammunition, or your weapon. Smaller hands, less hand strength. Just not sure on this one. • Body amour. I’m sure the issue has been addressed. But see weight issues cropping up • Field gear. You are infantry. Sometimes you need to walk. Sometimes you need to carry shelter, food, and all the necessities of life on your back. Water weighs 1 pound for
