Conscription is usually linked to patriotism, heroism and national affiliation, but the fact that an estimate of 30% of soldiers in the Vietnam war have suffered from PTSD in their lifetime is bound to raise some suspicions over this mandatory military system. Conscription is the mandatory enlistment of young men starting the age of 18 till almost 25, and although some boys do succeed in getting exempted from this service due to either medical, educational or other reasons, joining a country’s military service for at least one year is simply inevitable for young men all around the world. Consequently, various arguments have been raised on whether mandatory conscription is in fact a genuine obligation that is an essential aspect in any country or if the damage it causes to individuals’ mental and psychological wellbeing and the fact that not all enlisted boys are stable enough to endure this grave experience are sufficient to oppose the entire system. Moreover, it is crucial to consider the fact that not only does this impact the lives of constricts after their service ends, but it also hinders the quality of the military service itself.
To begin with, not only is military conscription an act of violation to one’s own will and right to decide and plan their future, but it is also an imposition on their lives with complete disregard to individual differences that make some people not built for the experience either physically or mentally. Although in most cases, physical and medical examinations are held before conscription, the mental and psychological stability of young boys are entirely ignored. In that sense, the inhumane treatment of soldiers in some countries, the remorseless trainings, ferocious disciplinary punishments and having to accept the probability of killing someone are merely examples of the brutal experiences that soldiers have to endure in the army. In this regards, conscription is a representation of slavery and involuntarily servitude where a person is ordered by the state to abandon his life and choose either to kill or be killed (Hornberger, 2019). All these factors have contributed in the momentous rise of the numbers of victims of post-traumatic stress disorders which could appear either right after the traumatic event or after years of it. In other words, an elderly man who was enlisted in the army decades ago could suffer from PTSD due to the horrors of the experience at any point in his life, so only a year’s worth of trauma could lead to distressing and emotional memories, flashbacks, nightmares and even symptoms of severe anxiety. This explains the considerable number of deaths of young people during the duration of their enlistment without even taking part in war and the huge number who remain afflicted with the terror even after years of the experience. However, many governments around the world are not acting upon this issue, so could this chronic demolishment of the psychological health of millions of people really be considered as merely a side effect of something that brings real value to the community?
It is said that one is as strong as its weakest link. Therefore, an army that is comprised of mentally unstable, vulnerable and traumatized individuals will never be a powerful one, and “when people have to be forced to fight in a particular war, that is a good sign that the government should not be waging that war” (Hornberger, 2019). In other words, the quality of the military service in any country could be greatly compromised due to the incapability of soldiers to cope with the severity of military life which results in low combat skill quality and hence, the system gets subjected to high casualty rates. Additionally, a study conducted by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America proved that 40,000 of the soldiers who took part in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan suffered from PTSD (Regoli, 2018). This extensively great number of PTSD war victims could only aid in the anticipation of the massive number of soldiers who must have not been psychologically and mentally strong enough to bear the brutality of war, having to kill and watching people get killed, and thus they lost the rest of their lives as a cost to this system that was most probably imposed upon them at a very young innocent age due to mandatory military conscription. Also, it is worth noting that if joining the military was only voluntarily, more soldiers who are actually suited for this lifestyle and are passionate and mentally prompted to face the hardships of military life will be able to take the place of those who are usually forced to be enlisted, and thus more value will be added to the army.
On the other hand, some people may support the claim that mandatory conscription is in fact an opportunity for individuals to gain some skills from the military life. Firstly, their argument is that the army shapes the character of an individual and thus, it has the ability to strengthen it and provide skills and attitudes that will help them in their lives later on such as responsibility, initiative, stress management, teamwork, discipline and self-defense. However, even though this claim might in fact be accurate, building up a strong skillful character is one thing, but constructing a shattered personality and a mentally unstable mind is another! In other words, joining the army voluntarily with the will and power to cope with its grave and harsh ambiance will definitely allow for more space for learning and acquiring skills with an open mindset and determined will. Nevertheless, forcing individuals to join the army regardless of the possible routes they might have planned for their futures might draft students out of their education plans, forbid young people from good job opportunities, and most importantly it will drain all their energy and mental strength if they are not fit for this kind of life.
To conclude, military conscription should never be mandatory for many reasons. For example, some individuals are not psychologically ready to cope with the harsh brutal life in the army and accept the many factors that might accompany war such as killing people and risking their own lives. In that sense, a considerable number of soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders which they usually suffer from for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, not only does conscription develop a risk on soldiers’ mental wellbeing, but it also does not add value to the military institution itself, whereas those unfit soldiers take the place of others who might be more capable and more ready for the military life, and this has led to the increased number of casualties in wars and the huge number of soldiers who suffer from PTSDs. Finally, although some people claim that conscription allows the acquirement of new skills and behaviors that everyone needs to learn at some point in their lives, it is undeniable that the fact that if those soldiers have not been forced to join and disregard all their potential future plans, they might have been more capable to learn and acquire skills. All those aspects form an extremely substantial evidence for why military service should not be obligatory, for those couple of years may bring about a whole lifetime of life imprisonment in one’s own trauma and anxiety.
Sherry Emad Ramsis
ID: 190994
Should Military Conscription Be Compulsory or Not? 