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To get it out of the way: there isn’t going to be a draft. Nevertheless, maybe there should be. Not mass enlistment for large scale combat, but drafting peopl

To get it out of the way: there isn’t going to be a draft. Nevertheless, maybe there should be. Not mass enlistment for large scale combat, but drafting people who have critical technical skills should be considered. The current approach of filling gaps in technical knowledge with contractors is toxic. If people have rare, technical knowledge necessary to safeguard our country, they should be required to be in the reserves. I believe Switzerland has a system where citizens hold a role in the military analogous to the civilian position. That’s a great freaking idea.

redis_mlc 7y ago
> to safeguard our country to safeguard Dick Cheney. FTFY.
zamadatix 7y ago
So the pay goes down, the work becomes forced, and non-military technology innovation continues to pay the same high rate as before and you think this would be an efficiency gain? The government can't just will cheaper work into existence by saying it, everything has its cost eventually. If your goal is to cut costs then just lower budgets. If your goal is to get people because nobody wants to then maybe you shouldn't be at war since nobody wants to support it. And yes, you're civilian skills are considered for your role in most any military. Most places just don't have mandatory service.
- chriselles 7y ago
  I’m not a big fan of mandatory service. But the 5 Eyes militaries don’t do a very good job of leveraging civilian skillsets of their Reserve/National Guard soldiers, sailors, and airmen. We talk about it all the time, and we try, but we haven’t been consistently successful. A few halo casts to brag about? Absolutely. But consistently? Nope. Tons of latent intellectual and SME value waiting to be captured and focused.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
chriselles 7y ago
I certainly agree with better utility of people with esoteric skillsets for national Security. Conscription works in some countries like Switzerland and Israel. But it is like a “life tax”. Several years of productive life involuntarily “taxed” by the state. It does provide positive benefits such as buy-in, having made a tangible sacrifice for society. As a volunteer soldier, I think we might be better served with having more ways to enter the military part-time. Think more corporate uniform contractor than camouflage uniform locked into indentured servitude for esoteric skillsets.
- pyuser583 7y ago
  If there’s a massive cyber attack on US infrastructure, I certainly hope there won’t be more cyber security experts defending Netflix and Porhhub than the nations power grid.
  - zamadatix 7y ago
    Good news then: there are more people protecting those things already.
  - nradov 7y ago
    There has already been a constant massive cyber attack on US infrastructure going on for years and it will never stop. Throwing more security experts at the problem won't necessarily solve anything.

redis_mlc 7y ago

> to safeguard our country to safeguard Dick Cheney. FTFY.

zamadatix 7y ago

So the pay goes down, the work becomes forced, and non-military technology innovation continues to pay the same high rate as before and you think this would be an efficiency gain? The government can't just will cheaper work into existence by saying it, everything has its cost eventually. If your goal is to cut costs then just lower budgets. If your goal is to get people because nobody wants to then maybe you shouldn't be at war since nobody wants to support it. And yes, you're civilian skills are considered for your role in most any military. Most places just don't have mandatory service.

chriselles 7y ago
I’m not a big fan of mandatory service. But the 5 Eyes militaries don’t do a very good job of leveraging civilian skillsets of their Reserve/National Guard soldiers, sailors, and airmen. We talk about it all the time, and we try, but we haven’t been consistently successful. A few halo casts to brag about? Absolutely. But consistently? Nope. Tons of latent intellectual and SME value waiting to be captured and focused.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

chriselles 7y ago

I certainly agree with better utility of people with esoteric skillsets for national Security. Conscription works in some countries like Switzerland and Israel. But it is like a “life tax”. Several years of productive life involuntarily “taxed” by the state. It does provide positive benefits such as buy-in, having made a tangible sacrifice for society. As a volunteer soldier, I think we might be better served with having more ways to enter the military part-time. Think more corporate uniform contractor than camouflage uniform locked into indentured servitude for esoteric skillsets.

pyuser583 7y ago
If there’s a massive cyber attack on US infrastructure, I certainly hope there won’t be more cyber security experts defending Netflix and Porhhub than the nations power grid.
- zamadatix 7y ago
  Good news then: there are more people protecting those things already.
- nradov 7y ago
  There has already been a constant massive cyber attack on US infrastructure going on for years and it will never stop. Throwing more security experts at the problem won't necessarily solve anything.