{ title: 'The Spectrum (Buffalo, N.Y.) 1955-current, July 13, 1979, Page 2, Image 2', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/np00130006/1979-07-13/ed-1/seq-2/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/np00130006/1979-07-13/ed-1/seq-2.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/np00130006/1979-07-13/ed-1/seq-2/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/np00130006/1979-07-13/ed-1/seq-2/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
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} The draft: resurfacing as ‘viable threat * to today f s youth by Robbie Cohen Motional Editor the reinstatement of Registration as the first step in getting Rid of the all-volunteer army and replacing it with ft conscription force. ‘ If public statement is an accurate gauge, it appears that the Pentagon is in favor of retaining the volunteer system. Defense Secretary Harold Brown has indicated that he is in full support of its continuance. But whether the volunteer army stays or goes is not up to our military chiefs,'“The army will have to go along with any change that the Congress and the President ratifies,’’ Ladue noted. draft,’/ Shank a4ded. Shank then quoted a recently released Defense Department study on the volunteer force Which concluded, “the volunteer army is equal or better than the draft force in terms of number of desertions, test scores and readiness.” “In light of these findings, there is no convincing rationale for a renewed draft,” Shank argued. Formed last April, CARD is coordinating a nationwide lobbying effort against the draft. At present, the committee has 35 member organizations and their ranks are swelling. *■■■> In December 1974, on my eighteenth birthday, / took the F train five stops to flushing. Queens to register at my local draft board. A diminutive career Army officer in his mid-thirties peered through thick-lensed spectacles and typed out my name and some miscellaneous physical descriptions on two white cards, one of which he handed to me. Ambivalent about the requisite and soon-to-be moot procedure, I K traipsed out of the sleepy office, the card tucked securely in a small pocket in my wallet What is the case for si draft army in peacetime? 4s the all-volunteer army such a * miserable failure that it has to be scrapped? To be sure, the volunteer army has been embroiled in its sham, of controversy since its rocky start five years ago. Critics have charged that the-army is now plagued with Analysis Nationwide lobbying What .are the chances of ft registration bill clearing Congress? Alex Knopp, legislative assistant to Senator George McGovern (D-S. Dak.), a. decided opponent of registration and the draft, gives it a SO-SO chance of passing. Knopp, however, pointed optimistically to resistance among Capitol Hill conservatives like Re. Phillip Crane, Sen. Robert Dole, and notable conservatives off the Hill like Ronald Reagan to a reimposition of draft registration. “Even the strongest supporters of a renewed draft,” Knopp said, “recognize that it would be highly unpopular.” •' Would there in fact be a public outcry if the draft were reimposeef? widespread functional illiteracy, thfit there is a' disproportionatelypercentage of minorities among thi enlistees and that our armed forces are now suffering from low morale. When the volunteer ariiy was first proposed, many liberals feared the professional anpy posed the threat of an elite military corpa sequestered from society, one that might encroach on the national political process. Some columnists - raised the specter of a professional anby creating the climate for a -military cojap d’etat. \ ; y v The anti'draft fight has been given top priority by the ACLU, an organization that has rapidly emerged as the single most active and vociferous lobbying group in the movement. ACLU spokesman Davicf Landau underscored the Tact that the draft would result, in a massive violation of civil liberties. “Millions of youth will be subjected to obnoxious mental and physical examinations. You’ll be forced to notify your draft board if you change your residence or if you leave the Country. It is unconscionable to have millions of our young people under the sway of our military establishment’s whims. I felt that, if the nation had opposed the stepping up of the draft in the early sixties, we might not have had a Vietnarn,” Landau emphasized. There are many democratic nations around the globe including Sweden, the Netherlands and 'Italy which have had conscription systems in force for twenty years or more and haven’t yet fought an armed conflict in at least a generation. Indeed opposition exists in these countries against the draft but not on the scale and to the degree that it appears to be in the U.S, Why might this be the case? CARD coordinator David Shank believes the answer can be summed up in one word; Vietnam. He explains, “Although the youth group that is eligible for the draft today were children when the War was being waged, the bad memories of the alienation and division still linger on. And the draft was a key component of the War.” Vietnam factor My draft card is now creased and tattered. The ink lettering is now smudged beyond recognition. It’s a useless piece of paper - the Selective Service System having been disbanded approximately five years ago, but I hang onto it anyway for some vague sentimental reason. The one great fear of youth in the Sixties — being drafted — is something our present generation hasn’t had to face. No foreign war; plagues our society and economy. We have had five years of generally uninterrupted peace since America ended its military involvement in Southeast Asia in 1973. And the conscription ftrmy has been replaced by an all-volunteer force drawn largely from a pool of minority civilians, most of whom found themselves unable tQ land a job in the civilian sector. After its popular demise a half decade ago, the explosive draft issue faded. It hasn’t resurfaced as a viable threat all during that time until now. Manpower problem The fears of something resembling the above scenario have been largely dispelled. But how serious are the other problems? The Pentagon maintains that these chinks in its armor are largely overdramatized, and that their only real problem is manpower, a shortfall which they are in the process of overcoming. Duane Shank, chief coordinator of the Committee Against Registration and the Draft (CARD), a broad coalition- of . . It is unconscionable to have millions of our young people under the sway of our • military establishment's whims. ’ v ' Lieutenant Colonel Ladue, a Pentagon recruitment coordinator told The Spectrum the volunteer system “is working anjJ working well.” “The Army,” he added, “is completely behind the system and is opposed to its replacement with a draft.” The Colonel disputed the widespread contention that our armed forces are laden with high school dropouts, pointing instead to statistics which show that there are a higher number of high school graduates in today’s military 86 percent — than during the Second World War - 40 percent. “Illiteracy is a problem which the army has inherited from the failings of our educational system,” he maintained, “and with the implementing of remedial programs we hope to lick it.” End of all-volunteer army Suddenly, within the last few months, talk is circulating jn Washington about a resumption of the draft. Last month, a bill was pushed through the Senate Armed Services Committee, largely at the'initiative of longtime volunteer army foe, Sam Nunn (D-Ga) which proposes a gearing up of the defunct draft registration system. Although there seems to be widespread opposition on Capitol tiill to the current bill (expectedto reach the Senate floor before August Nunn and other draft proponents Wave indicated that they see —ACLU spokesman anti-draft groups which ranges in membership from the American, Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to the American Friends Society (the Quakers) indicated that according to the latest public opinion polls as many as 250,000 eligible conscripts would refuse to register if the draft was reinstituted. “Half or better of a sampled group of high school students expressed their unqualified opposition to a new Rooties Flesh Party Wednesday, July 18th from 9 pm — 12 midnight BE PROMPT (providing there is no rain) Meet over 100 girls from six softball teams Rooties • Mean Guys Black • Mean Guys Gold Hollywood Hugos • Pierce Arrow • Melanie’s Blue SHOT & DRINK SPECIALS - NO COVER If you strike out tonite guys, something Is wrong with your bat! 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