4 Comments
User's avatar
John Jones's avatar

I have often thought that the United States should have continued to have an active Military Force after WWIi, much like the Israeli Army has had in its country. Every person serves some time in its safety concerns. I asked my father, who served in the Army in WWIi what he thought of the Idea? He told me the "American People get tired of war." I'd like to know what you Administers, think of this idea? Or is the United States. Sufficiently served with our current Volunteer Service Army?

Expand full comment
David Gran's avatar

I think the all volunteer force is good enough until it’s not. As you may have read in the Army birthday post, the army surged from around 300,000 to over 8 million during World War II. And then after the war, it contracted. Similarly, the other Services expanded and contracted.

The “right size“ will always be debated. However, what is clear is that as the defense budget increases other line items are affected. So I think your father‘s comment has merit.

Personally, I think some form of mandatory service could be useful. But I don’t think that it needs to be strictly Military or security related. I’m not sure what that would look like. What do you think?

Expand full comment
Alan's avatar

This post is very insightful and informative for us who are interested in learning more about geopolitics and especially historical politics and military conflicts.

Expand full comment
Phil Gentile's avatar

Thank you for your comment, Alan. We believe that reading widely and studying history to understand what happened and why provides valuable insights that matter for making sense of today's world, the choices we face, and the consequences of decisions yet to be made. Thanks for being part of the MRR.

Expand full comment