From Citizen-Soldiers To Global Mercenaries?
Black Pigeon Speaks had an interesting video published Saturday looking at the changing nature of the American military.
What I found interesting was the change to the military once conscription ended post-Vietnam. In Vietnam and prior, many of those in the military were drafted and forced into service. Even in World War II, the “Good War”, I was shocked to find that conscripts were nearly 2/3 (61.2%) of those that served, while only a little over 1/3 were volunteers. From popular culture you would think that everyone was lined up to get shot at by the Japs.
The mythology of the citizen-soldier runs deep, starting with the Minutemen of Revolutionary War fame who at a minute’s notice could leave the plow, grab his musket from over the fireplace and be ready to fight. In World War I and II, the draftees were young men from around the nation who were going about life like young men do until December 7, 1941 when they were called upon to leave their home, job and sweetheart to go fight in Europe or the Pacific, before returning home to lead lives of quiet anonymity. By the time we got to Korea and especially Vietnam the ranks of the draftee had expanded to include blacks in combat forces and in another surprise to me, according to the webpage of The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, 2/3 of those who served in Vietnam volunteered, which again is contrary to the image in pop culture. Of course at the peak of Vietnam, April of 1969, there were just over half a million Americans in Vietnam, while in World War II by the end of the war the total number serving was in excess of 12 million in a nation with 50 million fewer people than the Vietnam conflict. The citizen-soldiers came from all walks of life but especially the lower and working class, as at that time far fewer Americans were in college and able to avoid the draft that way.
After Vietnam, the U.S. went to an all-volunteer military. To meet their recruiting goals, the various services used (for the time) slick ad campaigns to get young men and women to join out of high school like the Army “Be All You Can” ads and this Marine Corp ad I still remember watching on TV, back when the Marines were still looking for a few good men instead of men that think they are women.
Being in the military was still a calling for many American young men, as they saw themselves as part of a noble tradition. These young men, mostly from the South and Midwest and generally raised in rural America, are now a dying breed as they see a military that doesn’t want them and a nation that reviles them. Replacing them are recruits that are dumber and fatter than ever, plus a growing number of foreigners willing to kill for Raytheon and Lockheed if it means a chance at citizenship.
Americans still volunteer to join the military, especially in the aftermath of 9/11, but now it certainly seems that they are joining as a career, for the benefits and training, rather than out of a sense of duty. Does that change the way we view our armed forces? I agree with BPS and believe it does.
When you voluntarily choose to enlist as a career choice, it is hard for others to not feel like “They signed up for this” when
the military-industrial complexour nation sends them into a war zone. We still feel bad when they die and thank them for their service when they get back but something is definitely different now that everyone serving signed up for it.Add in the “woke” crap that seems to have swamped the military seemingly overnight, and we find ourselves in 2023 with many of the most ardent supporters of the military having second thoughts and the once “anti-war” Left now cheerleading the military as an incubator of government funded degeneracy. Not to mention the U.S. already using
mercenariesprivate military contractors like Blackwater and enlisting foreigners to serve in the military. No disrespect intended to any who served but how different is the U.S. military today and in the coming near future from the Russian Wagner Group?It goes both ways. Not only is the new and improved diverse and woke military more likely to be willing to fire on American citizens on American soil but I suspect that many of those same American citizens are a lot more willing to fire on “our” military.
Changing the nature of the U.S. military might have some serious and unexpected ramifications for those that seem to be planning on using that same military to force American into compliance or boxcars. Americans 25 years ago might have been more likely to comply but today? No way I am letting Mohammad from Kenya get me into a boxcar, no matter what uniform he is wearing.