Bring back the draft

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I would like to see our country reactivate the military draft. I know we have been able to staff our forces with all the great volunteers but we cannot continue to take advantage of them in this way.

Too many military members have been required to serve multiple duty tours in dangerous operations for too many years. If we had a requirement that some percentage of our military, say a third, had to come from the draft, regardless of the number of willing volunteers, we could create a military with more citizen involvement.

In this draft, there wouldn't be the deferments we have had in the past: If your number is picked, you serve.

A draft would keep all citizens interested in our military and how it is used because all parts of society would be involved in it.

Stewart Owen

South Jordan