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Selective Service System wants to wargame the draft (www.militarytimes.com)
submitted 3 days ago by to c/aboringdystopia@lemmy.world
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[–] 17 points 3 days ago

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    [–] 14 points 3 days ago

    Ouch, my simulated bone spurs.

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    [–] 11 points 3 days ago (2 children)

    Eh, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Having worked in the federal government near the DoD, this is just trying to stress test the system. The timing isn't great given everything that's going on. SSS is already a break-glass option; it's no one's first choice, even the idiots in charge.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    Do they do these regularly? How far in advance was this planned? When was the last one?

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  • [–] 4 points 3 days ago

    Do they do these regularly? How far in advance was this planned?

    Not as far as I know. There was language in the 2025 NDAA to revamp the SSS, and there was reporting about automatic registration earlier this year. I'd suspect it's just related to the NDAA. If you've ever worked in government, it takes forever to plan and execute anything, so I'd bet this was in planning for months (if fast) to years (if normal).

    When was the last one?

    The last one was probably when we actually used the SSS for Vietnam, where it didn't exactly work super well. But the US went to an all-volunteer force after that (primarily due to the inherent issues with conscription as a method of force generation), so fixing the issues weren't practical.

    Since 2022, there has been renewed talk in government and military analysis circles about the specter of a new world war, especially given Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Europe is preparing the most for it. In fact, several European countries have provided guidance on how to prepare for large scale conflict. And even earlier, as GWOT was winding down in the late '10s, "Great Power Competition" was making large scale societal preparation more in vogue.

    So, given all that, I wouldn't worry about mass conscription. It's pretty widely known to be a terrible method of force generation. The US also doesn't need to conscript, even with the war in Iran. The economy is making recruitment much easier (retainment of experienced personnel is a different story), and quotas are being met.

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