Sustained operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have created the perception among policy makers that a gap has formed between U.S. strategic requirements and our capability to effectively meet the manpower demands of a "long war", renewing questions regarding the viability of an All-Volunteer Force (AVF). With combat operations straining the Army and Marine Corps and a perceived compromise on enlistment standards, some claim that the AVF is no longer sustainable and suggest that conscription would be a better alternative to our current manpower policy. Proponents of a return to compulsory military service assert that a draft would create a force more representative of American society, would eliminate the growing civil-military gap, and fix many social ills by creating a sense of civic duty and responsibility among the populace. This thesis will disprove the claims regarding the effectiveness of conscription as manpower policy by conducting a historical analysis of the drafts implemented during American Revolution, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and Vietnam.
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