National service in the United States
National service in the United States has a long tradition, extending to the founding of the country. National service takes multiple forms in the U.S., including community service, military service, and other forms.
Military national service
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But it proves more forcibly the necessity of obliging every citizen to be a soldier; this was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free State. Where there is no oppression there will be no pauper hirelings.
— Thomas Jefferson, in an 1813 letter to James Monroe
We must train and classify the whole of our male citizens, and make military instruction a regular part of collegiate education. We can never be safe till this is done.
— Thomas Jefferson, June 18, 1813 in a letter to James Monroe
The Greeks by their laws, and the Romans by the spirit of their people, took care to put into the hands of their rulers no such engine of oppression as a standing army. Their system was to make every man a soldier, and oblige him to repair to the standard of his country whenever that was reared. This made them invincible; and the same remedy will make us so.
— Thomas Jefferson, September 10, 1814 in a letter to Thomas Cooper
Led by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, the Federalists believed that a professional, standing army under the control of the federal government was necessary.
If we mean to be a commercial people, or even to be secure on our Atlantic side, we must endeavor, as soon as possible, to have a navy. To this purpose there must be dock-yards and arsenals; and for the defense of these, fortifications, and probably garrisons
— Alexander Hamilton,Federalist No. 24
...To oblige the great body of the yeomanry and of the other classes of citizens to be under arms for the purpose of going through military exercises and evolutions, as often as might be necessary to acquire the degree of perfection which would entitle them to the character of a well-regulated militia, would be a real grievance to the people and a serious public inconvenience and loss. It would form an annual deduction from the productive labor of this country to an amount which, calculating upon the present numbers of the people, would not fall far short of a million pounds. To attempt a thing which would abridge the mass of labor and industry to so considerable extent would be unwise: and the experiment, if made, could not succeed, because it would not long be endured. Little more can reasonably be aimed at with respect to the people at large than to have them properly armed and equipped; and in order to see that this be not neglected, it will be necessary to assemble them once or twice in the course of a year. But through the scheme of disciplining the whole nation must be abandoned as mischievous or impracticable; yet it is a matter of the utmost importance that a well-digested plan should, as soon as possible, be adopted for the proper establishment of the militia. The attention of the government ought particularly to be directed to the formation of a select corps of moderate size, upon such principles as will really fit it for service in case of need. By thus circumscribing the plan, it will be possible to have an excellent body of well-trained militia ready to take the field whenever the defense of the state shall require it. This will not only lessen the call for military establishments, but if circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow citizens. This appears to me the only substitute that can be devised for a standing army, and the best possible security against it, if it should exist.
— Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, Federalist No. 29
Let a regular army, fully equal to the resources of the country, be formed; and let it be entirely at the devotion of the federal government; still it would not be going too far to say, that the State governments, with the people on their side, would be able to repel the danger. The highest number to which, according to the best computation, a standing army can be carried in any country, does not exceed one hundredth of the whole number of souls; or one twenty-fifth part of the number able to bear arms. This proportion would not yield, in the United States, an army of more than twenty-five or thirty thousand men. To these would be opposed a militia amounting to near half a million of citizens with arms in their hands, officered by men chosen from among themselves, fighting for their common liberties, and united and conducted by governments possessing their affections and confidence. It may well be doubted, whether a militia thus circumstanced could ever be conquered by such a proportion of regular troops.
— James Madison, Federalist No. 46
The Federalists won the debate, in part because of circumstances beyond their control. The first of these circumstances was
The second circumstance was the
The door was closed on the issue with the
In essence, the Militia Act of 1792 was a compromise between all parties.[
Washington and Jefferson remained skeptical.[citation needed] Both wanted a classified or select militia, and they predicted the inadequate results of the 1792 Act. In 1805, Jefferson attempted to improve the system as President, but his efforts did not gain the support of Congress.[citation needed] In many states, the militias gradually devolved until existing almost exclusively on paper by the 1840s.
The creation of the federal draft
During the War of 1812, President James Madison and United States Secretary of War James Monroe sought a military draft, but Congress vehemently opposed it. Conscription continued to remain the domain of the States through levies to form militias. The federal draft was first applied in the American Civil War, though on a very limited basis with only 2% of the Union Army being draftees. It was reinstated again for World War I with the Selective Service Act of 1917.
Creation of the National Guard
After witnessing numerous problems with the Militia during the Spanish–American War, President Theodore Roosevelt's Secretary of War, Elihu Root, pushed for a reformation of the old Militia System into a dedicated National Guard Bureau within the United States Department of War. The resulting Militia Act of 1903 (also known as the Dick Act due to it sponsorship by Senator Charles Dick from Ohio), classified all American males between the ages of 17 and 45 as either part of the organized militia (the National Guard), or a member of the unorganized militia (all males within the age range who are not members of the National Guard).
On June 3, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the
World War II
With the anticipation of war in Europe, Congress passed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 (Burke–Wadsworth Act). The 1940 Selective Service Act was significant because it was the first time in US History that conscription was enacted in peacetime, in spite of opposition from religious groups.[1] The Act also contained a provision allowing for conscientious objection. This clause was a distinct departure from the World War I era when many Conscientious Objectors were jailed. Under the 1940 Act, all males between the ages of 21 and 35 were required to register, with draftees being selected via lottery. Draftees were to serve for no more than 12 months, and their service was to be limited to the US or US territories only. The 1940 draft was not a popular program, but public sentiment changed with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. To further conscription during the War, the draft age was lowered to 18.
During World War II, US participation was invoked at virtually every level of American society. Over 16 million men and women served in uniform, over 12% of a population of 130 million. Additionally, over 400,000 gave their lives; the largest sacrifice in any American war with the exception of the Civil War.
Post World War II: the question of universal military training
The downsizing of the US military after World War II, without proper regard to future threats, left America's forces ill-trained and poorly manned and equipped for the Korean War. Following World War II, US Army end strength dropped from 8 million in the spring of 1945 to 684,000 by 1 July 1947, a reduction of 89 divisions to 12. Over the next year it was reduced again from 12 to 10. Spurred by tremendous public pressure to "bring the boys home," Congress had little interest in considerations for future conflicts. Besides, with the advent of the nuclear era, it was believed that all future wars would be fought with airplanes and atom bombs. Demobilization, in turn, was conducted without much forethought to its effects on readiness. In Germany, as veteran American units were disintegrated, the remnants were rolled up into the ad hoc United States Constabulary. In Japan, the 1st Cavalry Division was at 25% manning its first year of occupation duty, with minimally trained teenagers as its only replacements.[2] The Army had dropped its basic training requirement from 13 weeks to eight, and in November and December 1946 only four weeks were required.[3] By 1950, the four divisions that remained in Japan were at 48.8% strength, with their combat service support units only at 25.9%.[4] Lastly, of the three divisions sent to Korea in 1945 to prevent Soviet incursion there, two were deactivated and the third sent to Japan in 1948.[2] These forces were further derelict in the absence of logistics and combat training. Between 1945 and 1950, the Army procured nothing except food, clothing, and medical supplies.[5] No new weapons, vehicles, equipment, spare parts, or ammunition was thought necessary. Combat training was equally nonexistent.
Immediately following the end of World War II, General Jacob Devers, Chief of Army Field Forces, suspended all unit live-fire training even though the Army had a well-developed, wartime tested series of live fire exercises for squads, platoons, and companies. His rationale, and that of his successor, General Mark Clark, was simple: safety. Safety was a greater concern to the Army's peacetime leaders than training readiness.[3]
To offset the rapid disintegration of the Army, General
General Marshall ordered the War Department to produce a Universal Military Service pamphlet in 1944. General Marshall's staff considered the pamphlet too controversial, so it was never disseminated. The pamphlet survived only in the archives at the Library of Congress.[citation needed]
Despite General Marshall's unsuccessful promotion of Universal Military Training immediately following World War II, he would get another opportunity when he became the 3rd
The
President Eisenhower took office in 1953 and ended hostilities in the Korean War. The Army and Marine infantries decreased in size. Eisenhower's "New Look" defense policy shifted back to a reliance on airplanes and atom bombs, thus further decreasing the possibility of universal military service.
The Vietnam War
The
In 1974, President Gerald Ford granted amnesty to all draft evaders, and terminated the Selective Service Act (started in 1917) with Proclamation 4360, March 25, 1975.
The Selective Service System
President Jimmy Carter reinstated the Selective Service System with Proclamation 4771, July 2, 1980. According to current Selective Service regulations, all American males between the ages of 18 and 26 are eligible for service. Failure to register within 30 days of a person's 18th birthday may result in five years imprisonment or a $250,000 fine.
Non-military national service
The Great Depression and World War II created the modern, American ethos for national service. First, the challenges of the Great Depression brought about large-scale, government-sponsored work programs to help rehabilitate the economy. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps, Public Works Administration, Works Progress Administration, and other agencies provided employment opportunities for millions of unemployed Americans while they performed a type of National Service. The results of these programs created most of America's modern infrastructure.
Those Americans not involved in the fighting during World War II made direct contributions in other ways: rationing, price controls, purchasing war bonds, civil defense, and working in war industries. The War Production Board, War Manpower Commission, Office of Price Administration, Office of War Mobilization and other agencies were created to support the war effort.
The early 1960s
In 1961, President
In 1964, President
The advent of the Corporation for National and Community Service
In 1988,
In September 1993, President
under the direction of the Corporation for National and Community Service.Post 9/11
After
In January 2008, various military, civic, education, and
On July 21, 2008,
On January 1, 2016, Service Year Alliance was created through the merger of ServiceNation, the Franklin Project at the Aspen Institute, and the Service Year Exchange project of the National Conference on Citizenship. Its mission is to make a year of service a common opportunity and expectation for young Americans.[9]
On 1 October 2016, Hillary Clinton announced in her campaign speech her plan for a "National Service Reserve", which would be a reserve corps for AmeriCorps, Peace Corps and other branches of the CNCS.[10]
In the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries John Delaney proposed a mandatory year of national service for 18-year-olds, which would either consist of military service, community service, or a membership in the National Infrastructure Apprenticeship or Climate Corps.[11] Other Democratic presidential candidates favored expansion of voluntary national service programs: Pete Buttigieg proposed expanded national service, Elizabeth Warren proposed a 10,000-member Civilian Conservation Corps, and Kirsten Gillibrand proposed free tuition for participants in national service programs.[12]
See also
- Alternative service
- Civil conscription
- Conscription in the United States
- Service Nation
- Greatest Generation
References
- ^ O'Toole, G. Barry (1939). "Against Conscription". Catholic Worker (November).
- ^ a b The Army and Transformation, 1945–1991: Implications For Today, LTC Arthur W. Connor, Jr., US Army, 9 April 2002, page 3
- ^ a b The Army and Transformation, 1945–1991: Implications For Today, LTC Arthur W. Connor, Jr., US Army, 9 April 2002, page 8
- ^ Task Force Smith 'What we carried was all we had.' LTC Keith K. Fukumitsu
- ^ The Army and Transformation, 1945–1991: Implications For Today, LTC Arthur W. Connor, Jr., US Army, 9 April 2002, page 6
- ^ "A Time To Serve". Time Magazine. 2007.
- ^ Be The Change Inc. "Service Nation FAQ / Media Kit" Retrieved on 2008-08-08
- ^ AP "McCain to speak at Sept. 11 forum on volunteerism" Retrieved on 2008-07-21 Archived July 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Service Year Alliance "Press Release: Three Organizations Merge; Announce Service Year Alliance to Make a Year of Service a Common Expectation & Opportunity for All Retrieved on 2018-03-05
- Yahoo News
- ^ "National Service". John Delaney. Archived from the original on 2020-11-07. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- ^ Avenue, Next. "2020 Election: The Candidates' National Service Plans". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
External links
- Americans for a National Service Act – Pro-national-service campaign