CMV: The US (and other developed countries) should require a 2 year military service (or equivalent) after high school, just like Israel

This is a change my view post, please provide your best arguments for or against and I'll do my best to respond to them. I'm open to being swayed to the other side.<br><br>Let me start by saying that the US isn't Israel, I understand, so let me describe the proposal first, then my reasoning for it, then hear your thoughts.<br><br>**Proposal:**<br><br>Mandatory military service for everyone turning 18 in the US, but with some major twists. A person graduating high school would apply for a national service program where they would choose to apply to 4 different types of 2 year service programs, in order of preference. Each program would have slightly different criteria for acceptance (such as physical health or background check, and so on), but in general a high school graduate would have about a 20% chance of not being accepted into any of the programs (due to health issues or something). Once in the program, the 2 years would be split into 4 months of basic training, 16 months of work, and the last 2 months getting out, with the last month mostly being Veterans Affairs giving resources for re-integrating into society. A person could apply for a waiver for health or religious reasons (backed by a doctor or clergy). People who aren't accepted into any programs (so they applied for 4 and were denied for all 4, or didn't apply for any) would have to serve a 2 year civilian duty, which would be basically a nationalized and formalized civilian national service outside of the Defense Department.<br><br>**Programs:**<br><br>1. **Military Service:** If you want to join the military, this is the route you go through. This includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and Space Force. This program is really the same as joining the military today, but after the 4 months of basic training you would have follow on training which would try to align you with your top choices. One thing to note is that the Navy and Air Force both have a lot more non-combatant personnel than the Army, and so someone who wants to serve in a more traditional 'military' way but be a coder or lawyer or something would most likely have an easy time of getting into the Navy or Air Force in that role. Once you complete your 16 months of service, you'd have the opportunity to re-enlist, get an honorable discharge, or go into the inactive reserves.<br>2. **Civilian National Service:** This is a broad program that covers all sorts of service to the nation, but isn't necessarily in the military. This is split into two groups: The first is a pseudo-military organization that would do things like fighting forest fires, providing disaster relief, and assisting in search and rescue operations. The second is a general national service program that would be run through the national parks service, or state and local agencies to work on infrastructure projects, or through the Department of the Interior to work on wildlife conservation. The idea is to do work that's necessary for the nation, but that doesn't need to be done by trained military personnel. People in this program would be subject to military law, but would not be part of the military.<br>3. **Specialized Military Training:** This is a program where the military pays for specialized training, but then you only serve for 16 months. The idea is that if the military needs more people with a specific skill, they would pay for the training, but then you're required to serve for the 16 months. Examples would be learning a foreign language at the Defense Language Institute, or training to be a pilot at an Air Force base. This would be up to the military to decide what skills they need, but the idea is that while you would only serve for 16 months, it would be more specialized and really 'military'. The military would also pay for your training, and you would not be required to pay for the training if you fail out.<br>4. **CIA, NSA, FBI, and other agencies:** This program is similar to the Specialized Military Training program, but for the various Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The idea would be that if the CIA needs 1,000 more people who are fluent in Mandarin, they would pay for the training, and then you'd only serve for 16 months. It could be part of a police program, or the NSA, or any of a dozen other agencies. It doesn't have to be law enforcement or intelligence gathering, it could be the Congress, or the Supreme Court, or really almost any other agency.<br><br>**Why I think this is a good idea:**<br><br>The core idea behind this proposal is that we as a society are most cohesive and strong when we have a strong sense of shared purpose and duty. For a small percentage of people in the US (and other developed countries), the military really does give that sense of purpose and duty. The problem, in my opinion, is that we don't have a shared experience across our society any more. To that end, having a national service program would give everyone some experience of service to the nation, to something bigger than themselves.<br><br>The reason I think 2 years is the right duration is that it's long enough to make a sacrifice, but not so long that you put your life on hold. If you graduate high school at 18 and serve a 2 year service, then you can go to college at 20, and graduate at 24, which is plenty of time to figure out who you are and what you want to do with your life, and be cemented in your career by your mid-30's. I also think that the service would cement an important point in a young person's life, and that after serving and then going to college would make someone more focused and better able to succeed.<br><br>Additionally, having a shared experience as a nation across different political, religious, and socio-economic strata would help to break down barriers and bring people together. I think this would really help to just make us more cohesive as a society, and to have more empathy for each other.<br><br>I've kind of wandered all over the place here, so let me be clear: I think after high school, everyone in the US should be required to do a 2 year national service program of some kind. This is a change my view post, so please provide your best arguments for or against!<br><br>**Edit:**<br><br>Wow, this has really blown up. I'm going to try to keep responding, but there are a lot of comments. I'll probably only be able to respond to maybe 10% of them or so. Let me just quickly addressed a few common themes that I see. <br><br>1. **Red flagging some comments as they don't actually argue against the idea, they just call me names:** I'll keep doing this as I go through, but please try to keep the discussion civil. I realize that everyone has different opinions, and that's the whole point of this. If you disagree with me, please tell me why, in a civil way.<br><br>2. **Addressing common 'what if' scenarios:** I tried to anticipate a lot of these in the proposal, so please read it fully before commenting. Some common ones are health issues (doctor's note, same as for someone entering the military), being in college (you can delay a year or two, same as for student loans), being a single parent (you have the option of civilian service or just delaying a couple years), etc. <br><br>3. **Addressing some common alternative proposals:** I see a lot of people talking about a draft, and how this is just a draft but 'without the war part'. A draft requires everyone to do a specific service for an indeterminate period of time. This proposal just requires you to serve for 2 years, but you get to apply for 4 different types of programs. I see a lot of people talking about 'it should be a choice', but then saying 'I was drafted and it was a great experience'. I'm glad you had a good experience, but that doesn't change that you were drafted. So I kind of disagree with the comparison to a draft.<br><br>4. **Addressing some common misconceptions:** Please read the proposal fully, but I see a lot of people talking about how I'm proposing that we draft people and require them to serve a front line combat role in the military. I'm proposing that everyone has a 2 year national service requirement after graduating high school, and that there are 4 different types of service you can choose from. The military is just one option, and if you choose to serve in the military, there are plenty of non-combat roles you can apply for.<br><br>I'll keep responding to comments as best I can, and I'll probably add more here later.<br><br>**Edit 2:**<br><br>I'm still going through the comments, and I'll probably keep doing that for the rest of the night. I wanted to take a second, though, to addresses a couple common themes that keep popping up.<br><br>1. **Asking questions that are answered in the proposal:** I totally get it, the proposal is pretty long and it takes time to read it fully and absorb everything. I try not to be too hard on people who ask questions that are answered in the proposal, but please just read it fully before commenting if you can. Usually I just respond to these with a quote of what's in the proposal and an explanation of how it addresses the question or concern.<br><br>2. **Saying that I support the draft or that this is a draft:** Please read the proposal fully, but I am not proposing a draft. A draft requires persons of a certain status to serve under compulsion in the military, for an unspecified length of time, at an unspecified duty location, and in an unspecified job. This proposal