Sean P. Tiedemann
English II
Ms. C. Yost
December 15, 2011
Sean P. Tiedemann
Ms. Yost
English II
6 january, 2011
The United States’ current military is made up of five branches; Army,
Navy, Air Force, Marines (a division of the Navy) and the Coast Guard
(which reports to the Navy in times of war). Of these branches our
military head count was 1.6 million in 1995 . The total
available American manpower (number of males between the ages of
15-49) in 2001 was 71 million. Each of these branches of military
service relies on volunteers to fill the needs of the United States. An
alternative to the volunteer system the U.S. has now is the draft.
Simply stated, the draft would be a lottery type system that would
pick, at random, individuals to serve in our military. It is believed that
the draft would weaken our military by undermining the vital
cohesiveness of the units. With today’s new technology and daily
changing events, retention and training are believed to be the most
important personnel issues (USGC).
In order for our military to continue their dominance, it is realized that a common mission must be addressed. The development of operational concepts is necessary to assure successful operations.
The current military platform calls for victory determined by attrition.
Combat power is generated by increasing the timeliness of critical information to combatants, thereby limiting the enemy’s opportunity
(Cohen, 1999). This initiative also allows U.S. forces to make rapid decisions with the utmost confidence. This information system delivers data to the troops best equipped to complete the task at hand.
In theory, this approach will provide greatly enhanced land, air, and water attack and defense capabilities. The only downfall in this system is the possibility of overwhelming the decision makers with too much raw data. The information must be
Cited: Academy Admissions. Diversity at the Air Force Academy. Washington D.C.: US Air Force Academy, 2010 Academy Admissions. Women from the United States Air Force Academy. Academy Admissions, 2009 Martin 's, 2005. Print. "Gear - Marine Corps." U.S. Marine Corps. 01 Jan. 2012. Web. 04 Jan. 2012. <http://www.marines.com/main/index/winning_battles/gear>. "Marines/viet Nam." Personal interview. 03 Jan. 2012. United States Air Force - Airforce.com. 2010. Web. 05 Jan. 2012. <http://www.airforce.com/>. "The US Navy Organization -- Mission of the Navy." The U.S. Navy. 2011. Web "USCG: Careers." US Coast Guard Home. 27 Oct. 2010. Web. 3 Jan. 2012. <http://www.uscg.mil/top/careers.asp>. Youtube.com. Goarmy.com, 22 May 2010. Web. 01 Jan. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brG-4WvYz1Y>.