Mandatory Military Service

Mandatory military service is a great idea in theory but can have undesired results that can be detrimental to our country. Our country is the land of the free and home of the brave and mandatory military service may very well change that saying to land of the forced and home of the trained. Military service can cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental issues that can cripple our youths. Physical trauma can turn the happiest person in the world into a bitter resentful person who doesn't contribute to society. The social fallout of mandatory military service can cause a divide in our nation the likes of which hasn't been seen since the civil war. If military service is required for our youths we may very well destroy our country from the inside out.

The military is a great place for a person to learn discipline, duty, and honor but only if the person makes that choice for themselves. Being forced to serve your country can cause the person to resent the government and people who support it. Parents never want to see their children in harm's way or die and mandatory military service does both of these. This will put stress on parents and children alike and stress is a big contributor to many physical and mental effects that are harmful to themselves and others alike. A recent animal study conducted by Wake Forest University showed that stress could help cancer cells survive against anti-cancer drugs. Researchers reported in the journal Biological Psychiatry that stressful occasions can actually shrink the brain by reducing gray matter in regions tied to emotion and physiological functions. This is important because these changes in brain gray matter could signal future psychiatric problems, researchers warned. There are numerous other negative effects of stress on the mental and physical state of a person like heart troubles and other future health problems.

The nature of military service, especially during war, exposes those who serve to potential physical and mental health disabilities. Through January 3, 2009, the Department of Defense had reported 30,934 wounded in Iraq and another 2,627 in Afghanistan. Two of the major physical injuries suffered by soldiers in current engagements were amputations and severe burns. As of August 1, 2008, more than 1,200 service members had suffered amputation and hundreds more were severely burned. The physical effects of military service are just the tip of the iceberg and don't compare to the physiological damage done to the people who server our country.

Sexual harassment and sexual assault affect many men and women in the United States, both within the military and in the civilian population. Although both men and women in the military experience sexual harassment and sexual assault or referred to as military sexual trauma (MST) rates are much higher among women. In 2006, one-third of women and six percent of men in uniform reported being sexually harassed, and 6.8 percent of military women and 1.8 percent of military men reported being sexually assaulted. Of the four military branches, service members in the Army were most likely to report sexual trauma. The rate of sexual trauma ranges from 20-30 percent