--
Timothy Heald
Web Portfolio Manager
Overseas Security Advisory Council
U.S. Department of State
571.345.2319
The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S.
Department of State or any affiliated organization(s). Nor have these
opinions been approved or sanctioned by these organizations. This e-mail is
unclassified based on the definitions in E.O. 12958.
-----Original Message-----
From: Lyons, Larry [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2004 9:45 AM
To: CF-Community
Subject: RE: [ISN] 'Special skills draft' on drawing board - Computer expe
rts, foreign language specialists lead list of military's needs
Any bets on whether the kids of administration officials, members of
congress and the rich will get conscripted? My bet is that not one will be.
larry
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Heald, Tim [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Monday, March 15, 2004 9:33 AM
> To: CF-Community
> Subject: FW: [ISN] 'Special skills draft' on drawing board -
> Computer expe rts, foreign language specialists lead list of
> military's needs
>
>
> Comments?
>
> --
> Timothy Heald
> Web Portfolio Manager
> Overseas Security Advisory Council
> U.S. Department of State
> 571.345.2319
>
> The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those
> of the U.S. Department of State or any affiliated
> organization(s). Nor have these opinions been approved or
> sanctioned by these organizations. This e-mail is
> unclassified based on the definitions in E.O. 12958.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Monday, March 15, 2004 3:01 AM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: [ISN] 'Special skills draft' on drawing board -
> Computer experts, foreign language specialists lead list of
> military's needs
>
>
> http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/03/13/MNG
> 905K1BC1.DTL
>
> Eric Rosenberg,
> Hearst Newspapers
> March 13, 2004
>
> Washington -- The government is taking the first steps toward a
> targeted military draft of Americans with special skills in computers
> and foreign languages.
>
> The Selective Service System has begun the process of creating the
> procedures and policies to conduct such a targeted draft in case
> military officials ask Congress to authorize it and the lawmakers
> agree to such a request.
>
> Richard Flahavan, a spokesman for the Selective Service System, said
> planning for a possible draft of linguists and computer experts had
> begun last fall after Pentagon personnel officials said the military
> needed more people with skills in those areas.
>
> "Talking to the manpower folks at the Department of Defense and
> others, what came up was that nobody foresees a need for a large
> conventional draft such as we had in Vietnam," Flahavan said. "But
> they thought that if we have any kind of a draft, it will probably be
> a special skills draft."
>
> Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said he would not ask Congress
> to authorize a draft, and officials at the Selective Service System,
> the independent federal agency that would organize any conscription,
> stress that the possibility of a so-called "special skills draft" is
> likely far off.
>
> A targeted registration and draft is "is strictly in the planning
> stage," said Flahavan, adding that "the whole thing is driven by what
> appears to be the more pressing and relevant need today" -- the
> deficit in language and computer experts.
>
> "We want to gear up and make sure we are capable of providing (those
> types of draftees) since that's the more likely need," the spokesman
> said, adding that it could take about two years to "to have all the
> kinks worked out. "
>
> The agency already has in place a special system to register
> and draft
> health care personnel ages 20 to 44 in more than 60 specialties if
> necessary in a crisis. According to Flahavan, the agency will expand
> this system to be able to rapidly register and draft computer
> specialists and linguists, should the need ever arise. But he
> stressed
> that the agency had received no request from the Pentagon to do so.
>
> The issue of a renewed draft has gained attention because of concerns
> that U.S. military forces are over-extended. Since the Sept.
> 11, 2001,
> terrorist strikes, U.S. forces have fought two wars, established a
> major military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq and are now taking on
> peacekeeping duties in Haiti. But Congress, which would have to
> authorize a draft, has so far shown no interest in renewing
> the draft.
>
> Legislation to reinstitute the draft, introduced by Rep. Charles
> Rangel, D-N.Y., has minimal support with only 13 House lawmakers
> signing on as co- sponsors. A corresponding bill in the Senate
> introduced by Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., has no co-sponsors.
>
> The military draft ended in 1973 as the American commitment
> in Vietnam
> waned, beginning the era of the all-volunteer force. Mandatory
> registration for the draft was suspended in 1975 but resumed in 1980
> by President Jimmy Carter after the Soviets invaded
> Afghanistan. About
> 13.5 million men, ages 18 to 25, are registered with the Selective
> Service.
>
> But the military has had particular difficulty attracting and
> retaining language experts, especially people knowledgeable about
> Arabic and various Afghan dialects.
>
> To address this need, the Army has a new pilot program underway to
> recruit Arabic speakers into the service's Ready Reserves.
> The service
> has signed up about 150 people into the training program.
>
> A Pentagon official familiar with personnel issues stressed that the
> armed forces were against any form of conscription but acknowledged
> the groundwork already underway at the Selective Service System.
>
> "We understand that Selective Service has been reviewing existing
> organizational mission statements to confirm their relevance for the
> future," the official said. "Some form of 'special skills'
> registration, not draft, has been a part of its review."
>
>
>
> -
> ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org
>
> To unsubscribe email [EMAIL PROTECTED] with
> 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
>
>
_____
[Todays Threads] [This Message] [Subscription] [Fast Unsubscribe] [User Settings]
