American Government week 2
The argument that I have often heard regarding military service members being able to drink at 18 is that if you are old enough to die for your country, you should be old enough to drink a beer. The counter argument to that would be:
a. The legal drinking age is 21 because the brain is not fully developed until that age.
b. The military already has a problem with substance abuse in veterans returning from combat, so why make it easier for underage soldiers to potentially abuse alcohol.
The problem with the first argument is that we have a volunteer military force. Everyone who signs up at 18 knows that they could potentially be killed in combat without being legally able to drink a beer. When you choose to join the military, you do so with the understanding that you will have to make some sacrifices, and giving up a certain level of freedom is one such sacrifice. I am of the opinion that the legal age for buying and consuming alcohol should be lowered to 18 for the entire population, but that is for reasons that have more to do with individual rights rather than military rights.
I don't believe that military personnel should receive rights or liberties not afforded to non-military citizens, however I do believe that they should be entitled to the same rights, which is currently not the case. The military is held to a higher moral standard and has its own laws and regulations governed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice or UCMJ.
Military personnel can be charged with criminal conduct for crimes that do\ not apply to the non-military citizens. Furthermore, while Federal law prohibits a service member from being charged with a criminal offence in both military and civilian court, but Commanders can initiate administrative action against a soldier for a charge administered by State or local authorities. A common example of this is when a soldier is charged with a
DUI off post. This is handled by civilian authorities and in addition to any
a. The legal drinking age is 21 because the brain is not fully developed until that age.
b. The military already has a problem with substance abuse in veterans returning from combat, so why make it easier for underage soldiers to potentially abuse alcohol.
The problem with the first argument is that we have a volunteer military force. Everyone who signs up at 18 knows that they could potentially be killed in combat without being legally able to drink a beer. When you choose to join the military, you do so with the understanding that you will have to make some sacrifices, and giving up a certain level of freedom is one such sacrifice. I am of the opinion that the legal age for buying and consuming alcohol should be lowered to 18 for the entire population, but that is for reasons that have more to do with individual rights rather than military rights.
I don't believe that military personnel should receive rights or liberties not afforded to non-military citizens, however I do believe that they should be entitled to the same rights, which is currently not the case. The military is held to a higher moral standard and has its own laws and regulations governed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice or UCMJ.
Military personnel can be charged with criminal conduct for crimes that do\ not apply to the non-military citizens. Furthermore, while Federal law prohibits a service member from being charged with a criminal offence in both military and civilian court, but Commanders can initiate administrative action against a soldier for a charge administered by State or local authorities. A common example of this is when a soldier is charged with a
DUI off post. This is handled by civilian authorities and in addition to any