We all know that an All Volunteer Force (AVF) has been the norm since President Richard Nixon inaugurated it in 1973. The AVF definitely proved to be the right decision and to this day we have the best military in the world. Our military will continue to get better, more professional, and more educated as the years pass by. What is incomprehensible is how we as Americans take the AVF for granted and do not educate or influence our youth to serve proudly in our country. While conscription is definitely not the answer to this problem, let’s show the American people that we can’t continue to enjoy our freedom without volunteers of able and willing men and women. The influencers in our community must talk to and support our youth into serving
…show more content…
We define patriotism as pride of belonging, the feeling of being part of history. To every other American that is serving it means something different, but it binds us together. Prior to joining the service, these young men and women have some sense of patriotism but it isn’t until they are at their duty station or even on deployments that they get the true feeling for what they are there for. Our benefits package is something that a lot of people would envy if they knew about it. Dr. Bernard Rostker former Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and author of I Want You!: The Evolution of the All-Volunteer Force stated, “…the military learned it had to offer money for education, bonuses to enlist in certain occupations, and enlistments tours of different lengths.” This is exactly what we got, and it continues to get better as the years pass by. We have free medical coverage for ourselves and our families, we get compensated equally with the private sector, and we also get a housing allowance to live the same lifestyle that the private sector would be living in. Dr. Rostker also said that the services had to develop a professional, highly trained, and motivated senior leaders in order to sustain the level of professionalism within the service, also well trained, professional recruiters to show Small-town, USA what the service can do for them. All this is currently how we operate in the military today and we will continue to operate as
We define patriotism as pride of belonging, the feeling of being part of history. To every other American that is serving it means something different, but it binds us together. Prior to joining the service, these young men and women have some sense of patriotism but it isn’t until they are at their duty station or even on deployments that they get the true feeling for what they are there for. Our benefits package is something that a lot of people would envy if they knew about it. Dr. Bernard Rostker former Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and author of I Want You!: The Evolution of the All-Volunteer Force stated, “…the military learned it had to offer money for education, bonuses to enlist in certain occupations, and enlistments tours of different lengths.” This is exactly what we got, and it continues to get better as the years pass by. We have free medical coverage for ourselves and our families, we get compensated equally with the private sector, and we also get a housing allowance to live the same lifestyle that the private sector would be living in. Dr. Rostker also said that the services had to develop a professional, highly trained, and motivated senior leaders in order to sustain the level of professionalism within the service, also well trained, professional recruiters to show Small-town, USA what the service can do for them. All this is currently how we operate in the military today and we will continue to operate as