THOUGHT [CONTINUED FROM PAGE 69]
One of those less-than-visible changes is the steady decline of the number of veterans at the highest levels of our national leadership. In 1967, when I was commissioned as a Marine Corps second lieuten- ant, 72 percent of the national leadership had served in the armed forces. The numbers break down thus: eight of 14 of the Cabinet-level members of the executive branch including the president and seven of his Cabinet secretaries, seven of nine Supreme Court justices, and 385 of 535 members of Congress. Today, the percentage is reversed with a veteran presence at the highest echelon of our national leadership at 21 percent. The White House website shows the president and vice president and 21 Cabinet- rank officials. Of those, only two served: the secretary of defense and the secretary of Veterans Affairs. In the judicial branch, only Justices Stevens and Kennedy show service in uniform in their Supreme Court biographical sketches. In the 112th Congress, 90 members of the House and 25 senators served, according to the Congressional Quarterly’s survey of members. That’s 119 veterans at the top of our national government. Not only do we have only a handful of leaders who have served in uniform in defense of America, we have even fewer who have served in harm’s way in one of our country’s wars. The draft was a powerful public
policy. Today, only 40 of the 567 national-level leaders have had military service since the end of the draft. That’s 7 percent. Of the 115 vets in Congress, only 36 began their service after the draft ended in January 1973. Rest easy. This is not one of those periodic pleas from some greybeard calling for the return of the draft.
The armed forces have organized in such a way that the infusion of massive numbers of initial-entry recruits would overwhelm the train- ing establishment and operational forces. In other words, there’s not enough room in the present organi- zation of the services to accommo- date a universally applied draft of all eligible women and men. The armed forces have adjusted to the changed recruiting landscape and are thriv- ing. There is no apparent degrada- tion in the combat effectiveness of the services. Rather it is a plea to put in place
an instrument that would ensure that the Americans who rise to the highest levels of our government would understand what it means to have a brief period of their lives dictated by bugle calls and ships’ bells, chow lines, inspections, field exercises, possibly combat, and the 24/7 responsibility for other young Americans in their charge. Here’s a modest proposal to amend the Constitution: Candidates for the offices of
president, vice president, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House of Rep- resentatives and nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court shall be vet- erans of at least three years’ active duty with honorable discharges from one of the armed forces of the United States. Candidates with mental, physical, or moral condi- tions that made them ineligible for service in the armed forces of the United States shall be exempt. Incumbents at the time this amend- ment is ratified shall be exempt. This amendment shall be effective 10 years after ratification to give a grace period for those candidates who did not serve to have an oppor- tunity to hold office. This amendment would show true, abiding [CONTINUES ON PAGE 87]
informationexchange
Army 162nd Assault Helicopter Co, Feb. 17-20, 2013, Savannah, Ga. Contact: D. Welch, (727) 667-0664,
dwelch98@tampabay.rr.com.
88th Inf Div and TRUST Troopers (Southeastern Chapter), May 2-5, 2013, Columbus, Ga. Contact: P. Bryant, 60 Quail Ct., Bamberg, SC 29003, (803) 245-4462,
nimrod004@earthlink.net, or R. McCall, 1005 Brook Ridge Cir., S.E., Huntsville, AL 35801, (256) 881-6325,
robmccall@aol.com.
815th Engr Bn, 102nd Engr Co and At- tached Units (Vietnam), May 15-17, 2013, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Contact: D. Williams, PO Box 451, Watkinsville, GA 30677, (706) 769- 7072,
dmwms21@bellsouth.net.
Navy USS Renville (APA-227), April 3-7, 2013, Portland, Ore. Contact: L. Rumple, 187 Lake- shore Dr., Mooresville, NC 28117, (704) 906- 7622,
lyndahd01@aol.com,
www.ussrenville
apa227.com.
USS Will Rogers (SSBN-659), April 4-7, 2013, Portsmouth, N.H. Contact: F. DeFrehn, (860) 449-1958,
ctsunshinell@aol.com, www
.usswillrogersreunion.com.
USS Inchon (LPH/MCS-12), April 7-11, 2013, San Antonio. Contact: D. Fix, 1868 Pool Forge, Lancaster, PA 17601, (717) 203-4152, ussinchon @
gmail.com,
www.ussinchon.com.
USS Steinaker (DD/DDR-863), April 25- 28, 2013, Warwick, R.I. Contact: J. Evans, 612 Turtle Bend Dr., Killeen, TX 76542, (254) 634- 0602,
texasevans@yahoo.com.
USS Carpenter (DD-825), April 25-29, 2013, Cincinnati. Contact: C. Ritchie, (303) 690-5118,
coyritchie@aol.com.
Reader Exchange
Field Artillery OCS Class 4-71—I am look- ing for members of this class. Contact: R. Vining, 10 Shady Grove Cove, Ward, AR 72176, (501) 351-5723,
rvlv@centurytel.net.
Pilot Training Class 71-01 (Reese AFB, Texas)—I am looking for graduates of this class. Contact: J. Maloney,
jim@maloney.com.
16th/13th Tactical Ftr Sqdn (Eglin AFB, Fla., and Udorn Royal Thai AFB, 1965- 68)—I am looking for members of this squad- ron interested in a reunion in fall of 2013 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Contact: R. Krause, (719) 659-7696,
rlandmsk@earthlink.net.
1st Lt. Carl Clevenger, USA—I am looking for him. We served together at Fort Benning, Ga., from 1964-65. Contact: W. Curtis, 1076 Stoneykirk Rd., Pelham, AL 35124, (205) 685- 5327,
wccurtis39@gmail.com.
Army Officer’s Infantry Brass—I am looking for infantry brass with the numbers 512 and 50. Both are from the 4th Armored Division at Fort Hood, Texas, in the 1950s. Contact: H. Poarch, 4221 East Pine, Tulsa, OK 74115, (918) 747-4857,
harry@elctulsa.com.
MO For submission information, see page 6. NOVEMBER 2012 MILITARY OFFICER 83
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