The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 THE MODERN VOLUNTEER ARMY 97seen fit. Once the premise is acceptedthat the· government hasthe "right" to take two years ofa man's life, the conclusion followsthat the Army in effect "owns" theindividual for those years. Thereare no drivers with whips or toil..ing masses building a Colosseum,but the att,itude is there despitetalk about enlisted men's councilsand the airing of grievances. 2Discipline is necessary, ofcourse, for the success of any ventureand is of· vital importancewhen the agency involved, such asthe armed forces or the police,possesses the capability of massivedestruction. True discipline,however, is a product .of respect.If .a man respects the laws heobeys, the superior he follows, andthe power of the weapons he controls,there is no problem of discipline.Inferc:hangeabilifyThe attitude of "ownership" ofthe rank-and-file soldier gives riseto .other problems: the notion ofthe "interchangeability" ... of enlistedmen, and the separate systemof justice for the military.The· old tales about master mechanicsand· holders of advanceddegrees serving as cooks and infantrymenfor two years are true2 The nickname "GI" stands for Gov.ernment Issue, a term applied to govern·ment property.even today. 3 •.The idea behind thesemisallocations is that, since theArmy."owns" the soldier, he canperform efficiently any job that heis programmed to perform, andhis own thoughts about the taskhe is given may simply be ignored.The results are plain to see:men held in positions below theirability become despondent andnegligent once their efforts atattaining other positions havefailed, while men held in jobsabove their ability become anxiousand insecure. A perpetual wasteof individual talent· occurs.The Army does make someeffort to allocate jobs according toability when a group of men areinducted. However, this attitudeof draftee interchangeability - aswell as the fact that the draft isgeared to numbers, not skillsdoesmuch to negate the effort.Few soldiers relish the thoughtthat they can be shuttled into differentpositions and. duty stationsby superiors who may not evenask the soldier's opinion on thematter. Also, the enthusiasm of apotential volunteer will not be increasedif his friends in .the mili-3 "A glaring example is the job assignmentsof men trained as soil scientists.In fiscal 1969 the Army needed 103 soilscientists. In calendar 1969, 244 enlistedmen entered·the army with such trainingbut only 6, or 2.5 per cent of those avail.able were assigned to their college spe·cialty." Chemical & Engineering News,June 29, 1970.