For the sake of simpler mathematics, we'll assume that all 22 million "draftees" are serving in the grade of E-1 (the lowest enlisted grade). They won't be, of course, but it makes the math easier. Using the FY 2006 military pay charts, an E-1 in the military starts off with a base pay of $1278.50 per month. $1278.50 multiplied by 22 million comes to $28,127,000,000. That's a payroll of 28 BILLION dollars per month, just in the basic pay. Multiply that by 12, and it's a yearly payroll of $337,524,000,000 (337 BILLION dollars!).
Well, if we have a draft, we don't need to pay that much, right? Okay, assume we give these 22 million troops "slave wages," and just pay them $500 per month. That would still equal a base-pay expense of $12,500,000,000 (12 BILLION dollars) per month, or $150,000,000,000 (150 BILLION dollars) per year.
Let's not forget that we have to feed these troops.
It costs the military about $200 per month to feed an enlisted member (assuming they eat all meals in the chow hall). So, we'll have to add $52,800,000,000 (52.8 BILLION dollars) to our annual military budget for food.
Where are all these people going to live? Are we going to build new barracks for all of them (About two or three million dollars per building)? What about those with spouses and children? Are we going to pay them a housing allowance so they can afford rent, or allow those children to live in the streets? Right now, we give married military members a housing allowance that (depending on location), for an E-1 averages about $500 per month. Assume that only 30% of those 22 million (6.6 million) have families. That's a housing budget of at least $3,300,000,000 per month.
Now add the costs for uniforms, equipment, training, relocation expenses, etc. Give me a break. This just ain 't gonna happen, folks. We can barely afford our current force-levels of about 1.5 million members on active duty.
Our country does not need a draft, nor could we afford to bring even a small percentage of our 18-25 year-old-population on active duty.
We have a million and a half highly trained, professional Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines currently on active duty. Additionally, we have 1.3 million in the Active Guard and Reserves. It's true that I (and many other military experts) think that our current active duty force is stretched too thin. The Army could easily benefit in an active duty force size increase of 100,000 soldiers and the active duty Marines could use about 25,000 more Marines. But this can be done without a draft (we maintained an active duty force of more than 3 million during the 80s and early 90s using the "All Volunteer Force."
Also, let's not forget the millions in the inactive reserves, or the millions of military retirees who, by law, can be recalled to active duty at any time.
Okay, we have time for one question. How about you? No, not you. The lady with the purple shirt. Speak into the mike, please.
She's asking, "Is it true that the Selective Service is quietly hiring thousands of draft board members, and that $28 Million has been set aside for the SS to implement the draft by the end of 2007, or in 2008?"
Nope. This is an example of "selective reporting." In Fiscal Year 2004, the Selective Service received $26.1 Million for its annual operating budget. Some web sites have misquoted this as a $28 Million INCREASE, where -- in fact -- what they actually received ($26.1 Million) is just a small increase over what they received the year before (didn't even match the inflation rate). They receive this money each and every year, and have been for the past 30 years!
The Selective Service must evaluate its effectiveness every year and report on it (to the President and Congress) to obtain funding. Every Government agency must do this. They've been doing this every year for the past 30 years! THIS IS NOTHING NEW.
Every once in a while, if they can find the funding to do so, they like to conduct a comprehensive test. The last time they had the funding to do so was in 1998. The next scheduled test is in 2009. Makes sense to me. If you're going to pump $26 Million into a system each year, it's a good idea to test it once in awhile to make sure you're not wasting your money. Here's what the Selective Service has to say about it:
- Currently there is a flurry of newspaper articles about Selective Service planning to conduct an exercise of its field structure in 2009. However, the public should not be alarmed. No draft for the military is about to be reinstated. Rather, Selective Service is planning to test its policies, plans and procedures as it has done routinely over the years if resources are available. Given the decline in agency funding, this exercise may be postponed again as it has been in the past.
Now, about "hiring" new members for the draft boards. About 10,000 to 12,000 people serve 20-year terms as unpaid board members. Because the current board system was set up in 1979, and the bulk of volunteers stayed the full 20 years, many of the appointments expired beginning in 1999. The Selective Service has been recruiting draft board members each and every year for several years.
Continued in Part 2 --All About the Draft
