U.S. military generals want women to register for draft

[frigidmagi]

CNN

Two of the U.S. military service chiefs believe women should now be required to register for the draft after the Defense Department opened up all combat jobs to women.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley agreed that the current policy, which requires only males register for the Selective Service System, should be changed after restrictions that barred women from trying out for combat jobs were lifted last year.

"Every American who's physically qualified should register for the draft," said Neller at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday that examined the new policy to admit women into combat units.

"I think that all eligible and qualified men and women should register for the draft," Milley added.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and Army Acting Secretary Patrick Murphy, also testifying at the hearing. would not go as far but did say they believed the issue should be put to a national debate.

"This needs to be looked at as part of a national debate, given the changed circumstances," said Mabus.

The Supreme Court in 1981 upheld Congress' decision to exempt women from registering for the draft on the basis that since women were restricted from combat they would not be needed in the event of a draft.

"The existence of combat restrictions clearly indicates the basis for Congress' decision to exempt women from registration," Justice William Rehnquist wrote.

Congress would have to change the law in order for women to be drafted to the military.

Murphy said he encourages "the legislative body to look at" the issue.

[LadyTevar]

Eh, why not. They can also register to vote at the same time.

[Lys]

Heh, this reminds me of hearing a guy say that it was unfair that women had the vote but not the draft. At that point i could have argued that at the time of the adoption of the 19th Amendment there were a large number of remaining social iniquities and rigid expectations in the arrangement of society that made the female draft both unwise and impractical. Instead i pointed out that fair or unfair, nobody was going to pass legislation to the effect. The men who granted women the right to vote did not want to force the draft on them, and the millions of new female voters sure as hell weren't going to vote for it either. Now we've made a lot of progress with respect to how our society handles gender roles, so maybe we can review the whole draft thing, but the fact remains that i doubt a majority of the electorate is actually in favour of it.

[Josh]

Selective service registration is an anachronism. It's not an issue in this day and age as the generations that remember when the draft was actually a thing continue to fade out. If we ever reach a point where we have that dire, unquenchable need for untrained warm bodies then the legislation will be altered in a jiffy to make it universal.

Given the accelerating trend of automation that's causing a perpetual downsizing of the human component of militaries, the odds of this happening in the foreseeable future are just a bit better than hitting the Powerball.

[Lys]

So, Ted Cruz does not approve of the female draft, "I'm the father of two little girls. I love those girls with all my heart. They are capable of doing anything in their hearts' desire, but the idea that their government would forcibly put them in the foxhole with a 220-pound psychopath trying to kill them, doesn't make any sense at all."

Wait, wouldn't the person in the foxhole with them be an American soldier? Does that mean Cruz is saying that American soldiers are psychopaths?

[LadyTevar]

I do believe he did.

[Josh]

I think he's envisioning some WWI style over the top and into the trenches stuff there.

Remember this is the guy who thinks we should carpet bomb, but you know, precisely and specifically targeted.