“You’ve come a long way, baby” — but not far enough, according to Democrats in the U.S. Congress.
Senate Republicans were angered by the Democrats’ proposed amendment to the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last week that would require women 18-26 years of age be automatically enrolled in the Selective Service System (commonly known as “the draft”).
The NDAA passed by the GOP-controlled House of Representatives required that all 18-26-year-old males be automatically enrolled in the Selective Service System, but Senate Republicans pushed back at the Democrats’ proposal to do the same with women.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called the idea “insane.” He added, “They [women] shouldn’t be forced to serve if they don’t want to,” overlooking the fact that men could be required to serve “if they don’t want to.” (In 2021 a divided Supreme Court found male-only conscription to be constitutional.)
Hawley led two successful efforts, in 2021 and 2022, to defeat similar amendments, so he will likely lead the attempt again, along with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, to strip the language from the bill.
It may be too soon to tell if the amendment survives, but it’s time to prepare for conscripting women in a time of war or national emergency.
In 2013, all combat roles were opened up to women. Now, two of the uniformed services, the Navy and the Coast Guard, are commanded by women. Women also command the U.S. Southern Command and the U.S. Transportation Command, both four-star general positions.
In 2022, the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service wrote in its recommendations that “the time is right to extend Selective Service System registration to include men and women, between the ages of 18 and 26. This is a necessary and fair step, making it possible to draw on the talent of a unified Nation in a time of national emergency.”
A 2021 Ipsos poll found declining support for conscripting women. Fifty-five percent of male respondents supported drafting women, versus 36 percent of women. For women under 30, support for “drafting women as well as men” was at 40 percent.
Since equity is all the rage these days, maybe it is time to heed the advice of the commission, and for the country’s leaders to start the conversation.
The U.S. military is unable to attract enough recruits. In 2023 the services fell 41,000 short of its goals. According to a Pentagon study, only 9 percent of eligible young Americans are inclined to enlist.
The inability of the military to attract enough recruits may be partly due to declining social cohesion because of social media, and lack of trust in the country’s institutions, a trend that started in the wake of the war in Vietnam. According to Pew Research, “Since 2007, the shares saying they can trust the government always or most of the time has not surpassed 30 percent.”
Young men are feeling alienated from society, with high rates of suicide and drug abuse and lower educational achievement. A draft call-up that doesn’t include their female peers will make them (justifiably) feel the game is rigged if half of the population skates. This will likely lead to disciplinary problems once they are in uniform, provided they don’t head to Canada or Mexico to dodge the draft, especially if they feel they may eventually get a presidential pardon.
Many have voiced the view that mandatory national service will force young people to put “some skin in the game” and increase civic-mindedness. But if it’s forced and not during a time of an agreed national emergency, it may have the opposite effect. This belief is a hang-over from the military’s role in helping end segregation after President Harry Truman ordered the desegregation of the military in 1948.
Since then, the military has been eyed as a useful vessel whenever someone wants to effect a societal change without the bother of convincing their fellow Americans that it is a good idea.
And speaking of emergencies, the recruiting shortfall is not an emergency. It may be the effect of alienation and distrust of public institutions — understandable after Iraq and Afghanistan. The fact that many senior officials knew the reality of America’s longest war in Afghanistan but did not share it with the public justifies mistrust and cynicism.
So, what should the nation’s leaders do about drafting young women?
First, they should announce that female draftees will be eligible for assignment to all services (Army, Navy, etc.) and components (infantry, logistics, cyber defense, etc.). Putting female draftees in positions where they can productively serve without exposure to ground combat (unless they volunteer and physically qualify) may convince enough Americans to support broadened conscription.
Second, they need to attack the military’s epidemic of sexual assault and harassment. The Pentagon’s May 2024 report on sexual assault in the military noted a decline since 2021 and that it was “the first time in nearly 10 years that the Department of Defense has seen a decrease in the estimated prevalence of sexual assault.” That’s hardly reassuring news — it didn’t help that it was shortly overtaken by allegations that Coast Guard leaders had tried to cover up a report on decades of sexual assault at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
Third, Congress is going to have to start calling a war a war for a change the next time we find ourselves forced to fight one. It must avoid cowardly exercises such as the Authorization for Use of Military Force. This instrument allowed members of Congress to “do something” about the Sept. 11 attacks without the responsibility of declaring war and asking citizens to support the necessary mobilization. A formal declaration of war will convince Americans that this time, it is serious, not just another overseas adventure in support of amorphous and mutable “American interests.”
Finally, leaders must make clear what it is that conscripts will fight for. A response to an attack on the homeland? To defend Ukraine, Israel or Taiwan? Or to punish miscreants who refuse to bend to America’s will?
It is past time for young American women to accept the heaviest burden of citizenship: conscripted military service. But first, America’s leaders must demand honorable, accountable behavior from themselves and their fellows in the public and private sectors to stanch the decline in trust in America’s institutions.
James Durso served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years and has worked in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.