Before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many, including Kyiv, were skeptical that a major war could return to Europe. More than two years on, another shift once unthinkable is underway on conscription.
US military learned during WWII that conscription doesn’t yield good troops.
Think about it in today’s military. Draftees will do enough to stay out of the stockade. While it’s a fictional movie, go watch The Dirty Dozen, which does a great job showing what motivates people in such a circumstance.
Now, draft someone, I don’t know, to be an Air Traffic Controller…
The US has no need to be drafting soldiers right now.
US military learned that drafting didn’t yield good troops for them.
Being in a lottery in which the loser gets to go halfway around the planet to fight foreign people on foreign soil didn’t yield the best troops, for the US, at the time.
However, look at countries who were more directly defending themselves. Like Finland.
We never gave up conscription and our soldiers are good.
The HQ and communications company of the Finnish Batallion defeated a USMC unit after its helicopter landing near the Finnish HQ
As someone who was an NCO in the HQ and comms company, I can tell you that’s basically where you put the guys with the worst motivation for training. It’s the shortest time to serve, simple jobs, usually not much fighting involved.
And a group of them beat US marine in this exercise.
#Conscripts’ will to defend Finland highest in a decade
The will of conscripts to defend Finland is at its highest in nearly 10 years, according to a feedback survey conducted by the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) among conscripts who were discharged in December.
On a scale of 1 to 5, conscripts rated their willingness to defend Finland with an average score of 4.6 — the highest in the survey’s history which has been conducted annually since 2014.
A feeling of satisfaction with conscript service was also high (4.3), according to the survey.
The poll also found conscripts were overall positive about things like physical training (3.8), training staff (4.3), squad leaders (4.0) and officer candidates (4.3).
The war in Ukraine had strengthened conscripts’ motivation to serve and their will to defend their country, according to an FDF press release.
There zero chance of us having an equally large, equally skilled military without conscription. ~75% of Finnish men complete conscription. That and a significant portion of women as well.
How in the hell would anyone ever fund a military like that privately in a country our size?
The US military is very powerful indeed, but not very cost effective. Just very fucking expensive.
I’ve heard the idea that drill sergeants abusing new recruits like you see in movies isn’t actually a thing, not anymore anyways. It was a thing when new recruits were conscripted and didn’t want to be there. Recruits today actually do want to be there and don’t need any abuse to keep them in line.
US military learned during WWII that conscription doesn’t yield good troops.
Think about it in today’s military. Draftees will do enough to stay out of the stockade. While it’s a fictional movie, go watch The Dirty Dozen, which does a great job showing what motivates people in such a circumstance.
Now, draft someone, I don’t know, to be an Air Traffic Controller…
The US has no need to be drafting soldiers right now.
US military learned that drafting didn’t yield good troops for them.
Being in a lottery in which the loser gets to go halfway around the planet to fight foreign people on foreign soil didn’t yield the best troops, for the US, at the time.
However, look at countries who were more directly defending themselves. Like Finland.
We never gave up conscription and our soldiers are good.
https://www.quora.com/Did-the-Finnish-military-just-beat-the-US-Marines-in-Cold-Response
As someone who was an NCO in the HQ and comms company, I can tell you that’s basically where you put the guys with the worst motivation for training. It’s the shortest time to serve, simple jobs, usually not much fighting involved.
And a group of them beat US marine in this exercise.
https://yle.fi/a/74-20067662
There zero chance of us having an equally large, equally skilled military without conscription. ~75% of Finnish men complete conscription. That and a significant portion of women as well.
How in the hell would anyone ever fund a military like that privately in a country our size?
The US military is very powerful indeed, but not very cost effective. Just very fucking expensive.
I’ve heard the idea that drill sergeants abusing new recruits like you see in movies isn’t actually a thing, not anymore anyways. It was a thing when new recruits were conscripted and didn’t want to be there. Recruits today actually do want to be there and don’t need any abuse to keep them in line.