Veteran of four wars, four enlistments, four branches: Air Force, Army, Army Reserve, Army National Guard. I am both an AF (Air Force) veteran and as Veteran AF (As Fuck)
Monday, June 6, 2016
How the Military Draft Works--Just in Case it Comes Back
Today is the 72nd Anniversary of D-Day, the biggest amphibious invasion in world history. The brave men who fought and died that day were a mix of volunteers and draftees. Whether they volunteered to go or were told by the government to report for duty, they led the way to free Europe from the Nazis.
From the comments I have received recently when wrote about the draft, it is clear the commenters don't understand how the draft works. From a very good Wikipedia article on the subject, here is the key line on how the draft works:
From 1940 until 1973, during both peacetime and periods of conflict, men were drafted to fill vacancies in the armed forces which could not be filled through voluntary means.
The military draft is just one part of the effort to recruit soldiers, sailors airmen and Marines (This is not a typo, Marines is a proper name, the others are adjectives, very cagey on the part of Marines). Whether there is a draft or not, if enough people volunteered to serve in the military to meet the national quota, the draft would effectively end.
One of my commenters was furious at the idea that someone would take the place of a person who got a deferment, but that is exactly what happens.
Let's say the Army needs 100,000 new recruits for the year 2025. They have enough drill sergeants, enough barracks and enough equipment to feed, clothe and train these soldiers. If there is a draft, the Army recruits all the soldiers it can, then fills the rest of the vacancies with draftees.
In many countries there are few or no deferments, especially for healthy young men. But in America, deferments were rampant in the Vietnam War era. When a draftee claims a deferment, the Army reaches further down into the eligible draftees to fill that place.
So if the Army recruits 75,000 and wants 25,000 more, they will send draft notices to the top 25,000 draft eligible people. When 10,000 get deferments, the Army sends out 10,000 more notices, and so on until the quota is filled.
Whatever the excuse, whether the draftee is Amish or just too cute to crawl in the mud every deferment means the space is filled by another person. So not only does someone take the place of everyone with a deferment, but they take the place of that draftee in the first year. If, like the current Presidential Candidates, they took multiple deferments, the man who took their place went to the Army in the same year as the first deferment.
Without the draft, the Army has to change and lower it standards to fill its ranks. The only way I was able to re-enlist at 54 was because the Army raised the maximum enlistment age to 42 in 2007 and lowered it again in 2010. In 2007, the Army was desperate for recruits, so they raised the recruiting age, and lowered standards for education. I got in. If there was a draft, I would not have had a chance. An 19-year-old would have taken that place.
Recruiting is a zero-sum game. If the draft comes back and the government allows Vietnam era deferments, then poor kids will take the place of rich kids, just like during the Vietnam War. And yes, the draft is a zero-sum game. Open spaces will be filled. And they will be filled by those who have no means to avoid the draft.
Sunday, June 5, 2016
Dad's Biggest Payday Ever Thanks to Muhammed Ail
My Dad was a soldier during World War 2 and a middleweight boxer before the war. After the War he went to work for a chain of grocery stores that eventually opened a three-acre warehouse in Charlestown, Mass. Dad was a driver and a warehouseman for Purity Supreme Grocers making about $150 per week in 1964, not bad money at the time.
Dad played poker a couple of nights a week and confined his gambling to cards, except for an occasional bet on boxing. In January and February of 1964, the talk among the Teamsters where my Dad worked was all about the Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston fight. Most everyone he worked with was sure that Liston was going to pummel the loudmouth Clay. My Dad was equally sure Clay was going to knock out the older fighter.
In the weeks before the fight, bookies were giving ten-to-one odds in favor of Liston. Dad had a savings account he called his "Swiss Bank Account" where he kept his poker winnings. He told me after the fight that he had withdrawn several hundred dollars to bet on Ali.
We listened to the fight on the radio, I don't remember why we could not watch on TV. But Dad was right. Ali KOed Liston and Dad won enough money to buy the only brand new car he ever owned. One of his poker buddies owned a Chrysler dealership in Reading, Mass. He had a new car on the lot for more than a year that nobody wanted. It was a blue 1962 Chrysler Newport sedan, the absolute basic model. It had hub caps instead of wheel covers and it had a three-speed manual transmission with a stick shift. My Dad bought the car with his winnings from the fight. Dad never said how much he won, but it was clearly more than $2,000--the biggest payday he ever had.
Shortly after that fight, Clay changed his name to Muhammed Ali. My Dad remained a fan. "He's a loudmouth, but he is not all talk. He can fight," was my Dad's view of the Ali.
Saturday, June 4, 2016
History Made Wonderful! Podcast Review: The History of Rome
At a recent meeting, the group leader gave us some
“get-to-know-you” questions. One was
“What’s your favorite group/singer and your favorite song.”
But I haven’t listened to that song in months. Questions
like this remind me that most people listen to music when they drive, work,
exercise or commute.
Really, I should have said my favorite “singer” is Mike
Duncan; my favorite song is his “The History of Rome” podcast. The podcast was launched on iTunes in
September 2007 and was an instant and enduring hit. I did not begin listening until 2013, long
after the final episode was on iTunes, but the podcast was still in the Top 50
on iTunes at that time.
In nearly 200 episodes (179 numbered episodes, some with
multiple parts) Mike Duncan guides us from the founding of Rome through the
Republic, Julius Caesar and the Civil War, then through the many great and
terrible Caesars who followed to the end of the Western Empire in the late
400s. Duncan did not try to chronicle
the Eastern Empire through its end in 1453.
I have read and re-read the Aeneid, including reading it in
Iraq. I love history well told and “The
History of Rome” is 70 hours of solid information by a great storyteller.
If you have not listened to podcasts and are interested in
history, “The History of Rome” is a great place to start. And the series has its own Wikipedia page.
Friday, June 3, 2016
Re-Enlisting In a Parade: Army Love
In the early 80s, I was a tank commander in the 68th Armor, a reserve unit in Reading, Pa. We trained at Fort Indiantown Gap, but had a couple of M60A1 tanks and other vehicles in an armory in the city of Reading.
Each year, the 68th put a vehicle or two in the parade through downtown. Like most reserve and guard units, members of this unit were neighbors and some were life-long friends. The year I joined, everybody was talking about one of the gunners in the unit who re-enlisted in spectacular fashion the year before.
Billy loved tanks, loved the unit and wanted nothing more than to be a gunner. He had served four years on active duty, then came home in 1978 and served two years in the 68th Armor. He wanted to re-enlist, but his wife insisted he get out. So he left the Army in 1980. The following summer, in 1981, Billy came to the parade with his wife and young son. A dozen members of the 68th were riding in the back of a deuce-and-a-half truck, waving at the crowd. They saw Billy and all started yelling.
Then his best friend said, "C'mon Billy! Jump in!" His wife was furious. Billy looked at the slow-moving truck, at his wife, the jumped the barrier and ran to the truck. A dozen hands pulled him up and beaming Billy re-enlisted the following week.
Each year, the 68th put a vehicle or two in the parade through downtown. Like most reserve and guard units, members of this unit were neighbors and some were life-long friends. The year I joined, everybody was talking about one of the gunners in the unit who re-enlisted in spectacular fashion the year before.
Billy loved tanks, loved the unit and wanted nothing more than to be a gunner. He had served four years on active duty, then came home in 1978 and served two years in the 68th Armor. He wanted to re-enlist, but his wife insisted he get out. So he left the Army in 1980. The following summer, in 1981, Billy came to the parade with his wife and young son. A dozen members of the 68th were riding in the back of a deuce-and-a-half truck, waving at the crowd. They saw Billy and all started yelling.
Then his best friend said, "C'mon Billy! Jump in!" His wife was furious. Billy looked at the slow-moving truck, at his wife, the jumped the barrier and ran to the truck. A dozen hands pulled him up and beaming Billy re-enlisted the following week.
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