Should We Bring Back the Draft?
Because of the military's failure to meet recruiting targets, a return to military conscription has been proposed by some in the media and Congress. The authors argue that this is not the answer: A draft force is more expensive and less productive than a volunteer force of the same size, and a volunteer force is more suited to today's high-tech environment. New recruiting initiatives and the recently enacted military pay increases should help address the recruiting shortfall. In addition, the military should reengineer its recruiting processes, for example, by using the Internet to attract potential recruits and to process them into the service.
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Originally published in: Los Angeles Times, editorial section, August 16, 1999, pp. B5.
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