General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIf Trump Starts A War And Needs A Draft How Will That Work If GOP Restarts One?
It is likely there will not be enough troops if we have to send divisions overseas again. I would imagine that enlistment is down. And you wonder what would happen if the draft had to be started again.
titaniumsalute
(4,742 posts)1. A 2008 style stock market.banking collapse.
2. A draft.
I think those are the only two things that will really start kicking oppositition into gear from the moderates and the right.
tazkcmo
(7,300 posts)then I can assume it's on BS grounds and the draft will include women in spite of no ERA. You'll see all domestic hell break loose, mass protests and a whole lot of draft card burning, imo.
Trust Buster
(7,299 posts)their heel and get the Defense Department to exempt those with bone spurs in their heel.
Auntie Bush
(17,528 posts)justhanginon
(3,289 posts)Initech
(100,059 posts)And if he wants to be an armchair commando so badly, why not give him the chance to be an actual commando?
ck4829
(35,042 posts)I would be really careful about signing up and having Trump, Bannon and Pizzagate Flynn have authority over me... so if a war happens and seeing they don't exactly have a friendly relationship with reality as it is, a draft very well may happen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft_evasion
We should support counter-recruitment starting today as well.
fleur-de-lisa
(14,624 posts)Some means of draft avoidance:
Being a conscientious objector, whether one's anti-war sentiment is religious or otherwise. Peace churches, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Mennonites, Amish, Brethren, Christian anarchists, Rastafari and Quakers, oppose any kind of military service for their members, even in non-combatant fields, but are not opposed to alternative non-uniformed civilian service. Note that many people who support conscription will distinguish between "bona fide" conscientious objection and draft dodging, which they view as evasion of military service without a valid excuse. Conscientious objection would be considered evasion if the sentiment was not genuine.
Seeking excusal from military service due to health reasons - this would be considered evasion if the purported health issue was feigned or overstated. (Malingering)
Marrying and/or fathering children, if the military in question will grant deferments to spouses and/or parents.[citation needed]
Claiming to be homosexual, when the military in question excludes homosexualsthis would be considered evasion if the claim was false, but if the potential conscript is in fact a homosexual, it would be the rules of the military body that prevent him/her from enlisting, even if he/she wished to do so.
Seeking and receiving a student deferment. This would be considered evasion if false or misleading academic credentials were used. Some notable US figures avoided the draft as students, such as Bill Clinton.[2]And Cheeto.
Being employed in or applying for a job in an "essential" civilian occupation and seeking deferment on those grounds. Farmers are usually exempt as are individuals employed in defense related industries. Often this required a letter from the potential draftee's employer to be accepted. After receiving deferment as a student, 2008 U.S. Presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani received further deferment after his occupation as a law clerk was deemed "essential" by the Selective Service.
Non-pacifist churches have at times deferred missionaries as "divinity students". During the Vietnam War The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) became embroiled in controversy for deferring large numbers of its young members.[3] The LDS church eventually agreed to cap the number of missionary deferments it sought for members in any one state; however, this generally did not stop LDS missionaries who lived outside. This cap was church wide in the United States and was not limited to Utah. Only two missionaries a year were allowed from each ward.[4]Utah[3] (such as 2008 and 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney) from receiving deferments with relative ease.[5][6]
Simply declining to enlist, if the potential conscript appears likely to avoid the draft through sheer "luck of the draw". During the Vietnam War, not all eligible young men were drafted; many who had a high lottery number registered for the draft but took no further action, knowing that they were unlikely to ever be drafted. Declining to enlist is not evasion.
Paying a stand-in to take one's place if drafted. In most countries this is no longer legally sanctioned, but it was a lawful and very common practice in the American Civil War. Grover Cleveland, who later became the Twenty-Second and Twenty-Fourth President of the United States, paid a substitute during the Civil War, an act for which he was criticized when he ran for President.
In some countries it is often possible to evade military service by bribing corrupt draft officers, or by finding a doctor who will certify one as medically unfit.
Deliberately making oneself medically unfit for duty. This could include consuming large quantities of drugs and alcohol for some time before the medical examination in order to appear addicted, or in more extreme cases, amputating a body part that is critical for service such as trigger fingers or even an entire limb. This could also include self-starvation, as in abstinence practised by some Jewish conscripts in the Russian Empire.
Moving out of the country (which, depending on the laws in question, may or may not exempt a citizen from the draft).
ck4829
(35,042 posts)The quote by Hunter S. Thompson, "I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me" will take on a whole new and vital meaning if there is going to be a Trump draft.
sarah FAILIN
(2,857 posts)Deaf in 1 ear?
Seems like a good out to me. We never considered it lucky till now, but I think it would keep my 18 yr old out.
safeinOhio
(32,658 posts)6 months to a year is a given now.
atreides1
(16,070 posts)That's all it will take for the Selective Service to begin operations, once Congress gives the go ahead!
Exemptions are different this time around, and the local boards are much more diverse then they were during Vietnam!!
Orsino
(37,428 posts)And our youngsters will be lining up to die.
avebury
(10,952 posts)information for HS kids unless parents inform the school that they don't want their child's info given out. And I believe you have to renew that objection every year.
http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/nclb.military.recruiters.htm
Under a provision in Title IX of the No Child Left Behind Act, schools are required to release the names, addresses, and phone numbers of high school juniors and seniors to "military recruiters," "post secondary educational institutions," and "prospective employers." (20 U.S.C. § 7908) - See more at: http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/nclb.military.recruiters.htm#sthash.cBUKqjfF.dpuf
If you do not want the school to release information about your child to military recruiters, you need to let the school know this - in writing. Some school districts are sending a form that parents can sign to "opt out" of this provision. Other districts have not taken steps to develop an "opt-out" procedure yet. If you have not received an opt-out form to sign, you can write a letter, advising the school that you do not want military recruiters to have access to personal information about your child. - See more at: http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/nclb.military.recruiters.htm#sthash.cBUKqjfF.dpuf
lame54
(35,279 posts)HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)This is 2017. The days of having hordes and hordes of bodies to fight a war are over. Technological advances have eliminated that need.
I think one of the chief reasons anyone should resist war under Trump (other than war is immoral, wrong and usually the characteristic of weak leadership in the modern era) is the fact that he can't even successfully run a casino; one of the few industries that ALLOWS you to rig the odds in your favor, without it going tits-up . . . how is he going to manage a WAR?
LeftInTX
(25,210 posts)He and his GF just had a baby. It would get him to take the plunge. (She is a lovely girl )
My other son and his wife would stop birth control.
Ace Rothstein
(3,152 posts)LeftInTX
(25,210 posts)msongs
(67,381 posts)madville
(7,408 posts)The military has been able to be more selective in recent years due to an abundance of volunteers. They typically lower the bar a little bit when they need more bodies, make the tattoo policies less restrictive, loosen up on prior drug use history, grant more waivers for criminal convictions, grant more medical waivers, relax PT/weight/body fat standards, etc.
former9thward
(31,964 posts)No one wants one and no one needs one. The military is perfectly happy with the current supply. They only need 2% of high school graduates to join every year to meet their needs and they have no problem getting them.. Enlistment is not down despite what the OP said.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Recruitment for the core, high-tech jobs are down. Despite what you said, the military is not happy with that.
(tools for moving goalposts located at bottom of thread...)