Equality
"No politician can afford to let women come home in body bags."
That's a quote from the 1997 film G.I. Jane. "Senator Lilian DeHaven" (played brilliantly by the late Anne Bancroft) said it.
In an article published in April of 2013, the nonprofit Center for Military Readiness listed the names of the 148 U.S. military women who died after 9/11/2001 while deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and Syria.
Now a judge in Texas has ruled that the male-only requirement to register for the Selective Service is unconstitutional. The U.S. has not held a military draft since 1973 but men are still required to register with Selective Service. Failure to do so is a criminal offense, although no one has been prosecuted for failure to register in recent memory. Not registering also makes a man ineligible for federal student loans for college and prevents them from being hired for most federal jobs
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1981's Rostker v Goldberg that the male-only Selective Service registration requirement was not discriminatory because women were prohibited from serving in combat roles. Now the judge says that since all combat roles are open to women, it is discriminatory to continue the male-only Selective Service registration requirement.
* * *
The question is, should the response be to require women to register when they reach their 18th birthday; or just do away with Selective Service registration altogether?
Until last year, the all-volunteer Army had met its recruiting goals every year since 2005. It missed its goal by thousands last year. Can we rely on an all-volunteer force to safeguard our nation? We have since the end of the Vietnam War.
Selective Service is not a draft. It is a contingency plan so that if a draft becomes necessary, it would ostensibly be easier to conduct that draft.
Last June the U.S. Army began a pilot program that increased the time it takes to fully train an infantry soldier from 13 to 21 weeks. Would a true national emergency that required the institution of a draft be such that the all-volunteer force we have now could keep an enemy at bay while we spent weeks training the draftees? I think not.
In the end, if we are truly seeking equality between the genders, either men AND women need to be part of the Selective Service system, or it needs to be done away with entirely.
That's a quote from the 1997 film G.I. Jane. "Senator Lilian DeHaven" (played brilliantly by the late Anne Bancroft) said it.
In an article published in April of 2013, the nonprofit Center for Military Readiness listed the names of the 148 U.S. military women who died after 9/11/2001 while deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and Syria.
Now a judge in Texas has ruled that the male-only requirement to register for the Selective Service is unconstitutional. The U.S. has not held a military draft since 1973 but men are still required to register with Selective Service. Failure to do so is a criminal offense, although no one has been prosecuted for failure to register in recent memory. Not registering also makes a man ineligible for federal student loans for college and prevents them from being hired for most federal jobs
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1981's Rostker v Goldberg that the male-only Selective Service registration requirement was not discriminatory because women were prohibited from serving in combat roles. Now the judge says that since all combat roles are open to women, it is discriminatory to continue the male-only Selective Service registration requirement.
* * *
The question is, should the response be to require women to register when they reach their 18th birthday; or just do away with Selective Service registration altogether?
Until last year, the all-volunteer Army had met its recruiting goals every year since 2005. It missed its goal by thousands last year. Can we rely on an all-volunteer force to safeguard our nation? We have since the end of the Vietnam War.
Selective Service is not a draft. It is a contingency plan so that if a draft becomes necessary, it would ostensibly be easier to conduct that draft.
Last June the U.S. Army began a pilot program that increased the time it takes to fully train an infantry soldier from 13 to 21 weeks. Would a true national emergency that required the institution of a draft be such that the all-volunteer force we have now could keep an enemy at bay while we spent weeks training the draftees? I think not.
In the end, if we are truly seeking equality between the genders, either men AND women need to be part of the Selective Service system, or it needs to be done away with entirely.
posted by me at 4:36 AM
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