Milton Friedman on The draft and the volunteer army
These are the grades for which the draft has provided recruits—either conscripts or “reluctant volunteers,” i.e., men induced to enlist by the threat of being drafted.
Context. From a September 1971 Newsweek column on the House-Senate conference report on the bill to extend the draft and pave the way for an all-volunteer armed force, written while the Senate had yet to vote on it. “These” are the lowest enlisted and officer grades in the column’s table of proposed pay, the ones that first-termers serve in. He goes on to say that because of the draft first-termers have been consistently shortchanged, earning not much more than half what they could as civilians, and that this is a major obstacle to recruiting volunteers.
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Milton Friedman, “The Draft Uncompromise” (Newsweek, September 6, 1971; reprinted in the Congressional Record, Extensions of Remarks, September 8, 1971, p. 31094, introduced by Representative William A. Steiger of Wisconsin under the header “[From Newsweek Magazine, Sept. 6, 1971]”, 1971), Congressional Record, September 8, 1971, p. 31094. https://miltonfriedman.org/quotes/draft-grades-conscripts-or-reluctant-volunteers-1971
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He also said
The military coup just engineered in Greece was by an army manned by conscripts. So was the recent military takeover in Argentina. Napoleon and Franco rose to power at the head of conscripts. Britain and the U.S. have maintained freedom while relying primarily on volunteers; Switzerland and Sweden, while using conscription. It is hard to find any relation historically between the method of recruiting enlisted men and the political threat from the armed forces.
Context. From a May 1967 New York Times Magazine article, written as Congress weighed renewing the draft, arguing that the United States should end conscription and man its armed forces with volunteers. He is answering the objection that a volunteer army would endanger political freedom. The danger is real, he says, but it comes from large armed forces and the industry that supports them, not from how enlisted men are recruited; free institutions are not made safer by filling the ranks by compulsion. “The military coup just engineered in Greece” is the colonels’ coup of April 1967.
The Case for Abolishing the Draft—and Substituting for It an All-Volunteer ArmyColumn, 1967, The New York Times Magazine, May 14, 1967; reprinted in full in the Congressional Record, Senate, May 15, 1967, pp. 12546 to 12548, inserted by Senator Gaylord Nelson., Congressional Record, May 15, 1967, p. 12548Checked against the sourceRead the originalBecause of the draft, first-termers have consistently been shortchanged. From 1952 to 1965 there were no pay raises at all for enlisted men in the first two years of service. As a result, first-term enlisted men now receive not much more than half the amount that they could earn as civilians. In sharp contrast, enlisted men with more service and officers above the first two grades receive as much as or more than they could earn. This was and is a glaring and completely unjustifiable inequity. It was and is a major obstacle to recruiting volunteers.
Context. From a September 1971 Newsweek column on the House-Senate conference report on the bill to extend the draft and pave the way for an all-volunteer armed force, written while the Senate had yet to vote on it. The conference had cut the pay raises for first-term enlisted men and officers below both the House and Senate bills.
The Draft UncompromiseColumn, 1971, Newsweek, September 6, 1971; reprinted in the Congressional Record, Extensions of Remarks, September 8, 1971, p. 31094, introduced by Representative William A. Steiger of Wisconsin under the header “[From Newsweek Magazine, Sept. 6, 1971]”, Congressional Record, September 8, 1971, p. 31094Checked against the sourceRead the originalBecause of the draft, first-termers have consistently been shortchanged. From 1952 to 1965 there were no pay raises at all for enlisted men in the first two years of service. As a result, first-term enlisted men now receive not much more than half the amount that they could earn as civilians. In sharp contrast, enlisted men with more service and officers above the first two grades receive as much as or more than they could earn. This was and is a glaring and completely unjustifiable inequity. It was and is a major obstacle to recruiting volunteers.
Context. From a September 1971 Newsweek column on the House-Senate conference report on the bill to extend the draft and pave the way for an all-volunteer armed force, written while the Senate had yet to vote on it.
The Draft UncompromiseColumn, 1971, Newsweek, September 6, 1971; reprinted in the Congressional Record, Extensions of Remarks, September 8, 1971, p. 31094, introduced by Representative William A. Steiger of Wisconsin under the header “[From Newsweek Magazine, Sept. 6, 1971]”, Congressional Record, September 8, 1971, p. 31094Checked against the sourceRead the original
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