All-Volunteer Force: Thirty Years of Service

The development of the All Volunteer Force (AVF) has moved the United States closer to the rest of the civilized world. Virtually all of the developed countries in Europe, Asia, and around the world have gone to a non-draft mode. The results have been astounding, far exceeding what the original proponents had predicted. The troops (and we are really just talking about the Army as the other forces were all volunteer before) that we have now are: smarter, better educated, more law abiding (a criminal record keeps you out of the service), use fewer drugs, have a higher esprit de corp, and re-enlist at a higher rate. This book is a report based on a conference of people with direct experience with the AVF. It is based on the first thirty years of the AVF. The report is broken down into five parts: The All-Volunteer Force in Perspective Sustaining the Force: Recruiting and Retention Reserve Component Contributions to the All-Volunteer Force Transformation in Military Manpower and Personnel Policy The Next Decade. I have heard rumors in the press that currently enlistments are down because of the war in Iraq. Doing a quick search on the internet shows a lot of smoke and noise, but little real data. Everyone opposed to the war seems to have a web page saying that recruitment is down, and we must get out of Iraq, etc. Other pages say that the military is increasing incentives and attracting the number and quality of the people they need. In the long run, I doubt that we will return to the draft, but I suppose if the anti-war people are successful ....