<<  <  >  >>

Policymakers

Conclusion

ty of the American people. A renewed draft

would destroy the very values that it pur-

need to think

ports to save.

It is important never to forget that the

creatively about

military is a means to an end--not an end in

how best to alle-

itself. The purpose of America's armed forces

Appendix

is to defend a free society built on respect for

viate narrower

and protection of individual liberty. Ulti-

grade and skill

mately, the preservation of liberty is the most

All the tables come from the Office of

shortages.

important reason to reject conscription.

the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force

A draft would be costly, especially to the

Management Policy, Population Representa-

military. More basic, however, conscription

tion in the Military Services Fiscal Year 1997

would be incompatible with the govern-

(Washington: U.S. Department of Defense,

ment's duty to protect the individual liber-

November 1998).

19