Reply #5: Hard to know since there is no draft currently or in the works [View All]

[starwolf]

See a lot of posts here about how a draft is just around the corner, but they don't seem credible to me. The only politicians pushing it are people like Rangel who seems to being doing it for political reasons.

Periodically I read something about the Selective Service System doing studies of this or that. To me that seems to be normal contingency planning. What else are they going to do?

I did see a very interesting post here earlier today that in part pointed out that with a draft, resistance to going to war greatly increases, a reasonable conclusion. This maybe Rangel's intent.

I have also read elsewhere that the armed forces do not want a draft since it leads to major discipline problems and the current military infrastructure and training is all based around people who basically want to be there. Again a reasonable conclusion.

My current take is that it would take something cataclysmic to restart a draft, and that the national debate would be long and loud. It certainly is not around the corner.

As for medical issues, there are a number that were historically used. At a macro level they all revolved around fitness for service kind of things. Heart murmurs, asthma, horrible eyesight, deafness, serious mental defect, very high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic back or knee issues, and the like used to DQ you. A key aspect of the military was the walking blood bank so permanent blood born disease was also a down check. Then of course there was homosexuality. Things have changed in the 30 or so years since they last drew number and rated people. Not sure what the rules would be today. If don't ask-don't tell were to remain in force, getting dropped would be more than easy.