For the first time since the Vietnam War, the United States is ordering all men aged 18-26 to register for the military draft. President Donald Trump signed the law back in December 2025 and planned for it to take place the following year.
Since the Vietnam War, military service had been voluntary, but more recently, fewer and fewer men have enlisted, leading Trump to make the decision. The plan is, rather than send out everyone at once, to stagger the draft by age. What this would look like would be starting with men at age 20 and gradually working up to 26, before circling back to include 19 and 18 year olds.
With the more recent war in Iran, many people have become concerned that the government is preparing to send many young people to fight, which is what happened during most recent draft back in Vietnam. The Vietnam draft was also highly controversial. Just as in Vietnam similarly, people today have protested against the draft and do not support it.
Personally, I believe that the conflict is not needed.
Myself and many others will not fight a war that we do not support. Refusing service can be criticized as un-patriotic, but refusing to support a war does not mean refusing to support your country. In fact standing by your morals and beliefs that question the leaders of the country reflects the same foundations America was built on and dissent is patriotic.
Iran is a much smaller and less powerful country than the United States both geographically and by military power, but they are shown as a huge enemy to the American people. America has one of the largest militaries in the world with 62,000 people enlisting in 2025. If that is considered considerably less, I would be worried what the goal amount would be.
Even if the draft was effective, morale would likely be low. Back during the Vietnam War, many men that were drafted did not want to be there. That led to many soldiers finding ways to get sent home, some actions more violent than others.
If enlistment is kept voluntary as it has been, the people who choose to serve would be more committed to serving the country and more motivated.
Sadly, with the dissatisfaction that many Americans have for the government, the reality is that in the coming years it is unsurprisingly projected that fewer and fewer people will enlist.
In the end, the American people should still choose if they should enlist in the military or not, especially with the number of Americans who do not support the military action in Iran and would not want to go serve there. Myself and many others could see the draft being necessary if America itself was being threatened on a large scale, but with something as small as this, it is not deemed necessary.
Even though the government had implemented the draft to start in December last year, it could be that they put it in place to prepare for when the conflict with Iran started.
Ultimately, the government should listen to what the people want regarding a draft and military action and follow through on that.
