Does anyone have any feedback on the "All Volunteer Force" and resulting "Total Force" policy post the end of the Draft?

PO3 Aaron Hassay — Sun, 02 Sep 2018 17:44:17 -0400

In 1973 Secretary Defense Melvin Laird era you see these changes in policy, that still hold true today.

Response by Lt Col Charlie Brown made Sep 2 at 2018 5:48 PM

Lt Col Charlie Brown — Sun, 02 Sep 2018 17:48:52 -0400

We have a better disciplined, better educated force.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Sep 2 at 2018 5:54 PM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Sun, 02 Sep 2018 17:54:02 -0400

You have people that are more willing to serve their country, and provide the excellent service required of them.

Response by SSgt Donald Libby made Sep 2 at 2018 6:07 PM

SSgt Donald Libby — Sun, 02 Sep 2018 18:07:49 -0400

Draft or no draft; I joined because I wanted to be in the Air Force and owed it to my country.

Response by SSgt Gary Andrews made Sep 2 at 2018 8:21 PM

SSgt Gary Andrews — Sun, 02 Sep 2018 20:21:53 -0400

Here is some food for thought on this subject. The draft did a lot more than just supply the armed forces with those who were actually drafted.......all young men during the draft era had that hanging over them, and many chose to go ahead and enlist rather than sweat it out. The Navy and the Air force benefited from that, even though they didn't receive draftees. The Marine Corps benefited as well, receiving some draftees, and filling their ranks with enlistees that chose not to wait for the draft to get them. So even though the Army received the majority of draftees, the other branches got the benefit of the draft being enforced. Did draftees make good soldiers? I've heard some did, many didn't, but I didn't see it first hand. I was on recruiting duty when the draft actually ended.....it made my life miserable. Nobody had to go anymore, Viet Nam left a bad taste in everyone's mouth and nobody wanted to go, and the orders came down that the all volunteer thing had to work.......so go get 'em! So are we better off with the draft, or without the draft? You can make a case for either point of view.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Sep 2 at 2018 8:43 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Sun, 02 Sep 2018 20:43:52 -0400

The physical body count requirements dropped and we went through a period of not much going on. So there was a business decision. You couldn't keep a draft going per law. The political climate for continuing to draft what you need was going into the toilet. So the "all volunteer force" was politically sexy. You just had to price it just good enough to get the numbers. If you look at total cost of draft vs. all volunteer, it probably was a wash in the early days given you didn't have to chase people around, etc. Once that happened, there was no going back unless it was an "all in" circumstance. Better/worse? My take it's more of a wash given we had resistance with the draft, but now the input are millennials. Some people will take offense, but the iPacifier kids have a pretty wide bell curve and only a certain slice of it makes a good MIL. Just look at the posts on RP and you'll see the square peg, round hole problems abound. So there is the "want". But that's much different than the "success". My sense is we're flushing out somewhat less than we were back then, but it isn't a huge difference. Time and circumstances are just different, hence it's more an apple/oranges thing.

Interesting thing is if you bump up the price, you can do more picking and choosing with fewer tosses later on. Hitting that sweet spot is tough.

Response by LtCol Robert Quinter made Sep 3 at 2018 8:51 AM

LtCol Robert Quinter — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 08:51:25 -0400

Characterizing all draftees as slugs or drags on the system is popular but wrong. The fact is the military is a unique lifestyle that some people do not assimilate into. Many draftees and draft induced affiliates remained in the military to served with distinction. Most served just like your average enlistee, then departed when their obligation was fulfilled.
Yes, today's military is better educated, better equipped and generally well suited to our current situation, but consider these situations:
At the beginning of the current actions, the activation of many reserve units resulted in families experiencing real hardships when their member deployed without the benefit of all the support features resident at most bases.
The all volunteer status has served to limit the exposure of many citizens to the military experience. When service is not a universal "threat" some people fail to pay attention to the military life and the attitude that we have a military class becomes an argument.
Our military continues to be a test bed for social experimentation that normally proves ill considered.
We continue to read of the trials of fulfilling affiliation goals with the reduced requirements of our "limited" wars and generally bemoan the operational requirements placed upon our people and equipment. What would we do if the general war that many say won't happen would present itself.

Response by MSgt Dale Johnson made Sep 3 at 2018 9:29 AM

MSgt Dale Johnson — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 09:29:13 -0400

I think they, the volunteer forces, are more motivated because they chose to enlist.
When I entered the service in 1971 I enlisted because basically I won the draft "Lottery" that year. Wanting to get a possible career from military training I chose to enlist so that I could maybe choose what type of job I could get. I really didn't have any motivation to do anything except just learn my job, and I learned my AFSC Skill very well but didn't really apply myself to be a good Airman in any other way, with the exception of I volunteered for the Honor Guard at McGuire AFB.
After a few years I turned a corner and decided I wanted to be in the military and really applied myself, I was motivated by wanting to excel and wanting to be a part of the Air Force rather than just serving my time.
Many of the guys in my early years in the Air Force fit the mold of just trying to avoid the other branches of the military. Essentially they were near draft dodgers, it showed in almost everything they did because they did just enough to not get into trouble. I hung out with more than a few of them. Luckily for me I found a few senior NCOs that I respected and determined to be more like them than my peers.

Response by MSG Stan Hutchison made Sep 3 at 2018 11:50 AM

MSG Stan Hutchison — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 11:50:57 -0400

I was at Ft Carson at the time (1973-1978). Carson was a "showcase" fort for VOLAR. It went one direction, then another, first doing anything to get those volunteers. Then it swung back toward a more "hard-corps" division. I saw the good and the bad of VOLAR.
I wish we Americans were not so prone to extreme shifts and could find a middle and hold there. VOLAR was just one of the many examples of moving from one extreme to the opposite in our history.

Response by 1SG Clifford Barnes made Sep 3 at 2018 8:50 PM

1SG Clifford Barnes — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 20:50:49 -0400

The draft has lots of positives and helped the young people grow up and taught them to me men responsibility morals and respect for themselves and others. There was more to life that just laying around and feeling like what am I to do. Made men out of a lot of individuals