@ genius: I don't even know why I'm bothering to argue with somebody that's already been declared "unfit for service" (that's pretty damned disgraceful, if you ask me) yet who still thinks that he actually knows something about military matters, but here goes, anyway...

As your own post points out:

That's definitely not true, either; the current figures are well known and are readily available.

The entire US military (all the branches combined) breaks down as follows:

So...as you can plainly see a full 50% of the entire US military is either National Guard or Reserve personnel. And those units are now falling from -7% to -30% short of their required recruiting goals. This is considered to be a "critical" force shortage, since many vital military specialties are performed only by highly specialized Guard and Reserve units these days. Especially where "nation building" and "civil affairs" activities are concerned. Without these Guard and Reserve units the entire US military force simply can't function as expected.

Right now 20% of the US military forces in Iraq are either National Guard or Reserve soldiers. That figure was expected to double to about 40% by next year, but because of severe manpower shortages that goal will not be met, and will require the military to send active duty units back to Iraq -- units that were already in Iraq or Afghanistan once already (when the wars first started) and have since completed their tours (plus several "involuntary tour extensions") and have since been rotated back home again. These units were assured that they would be allowed to remain stateside for at least a full 12 months (minimum) before being re-deployed back to Iraq and Afghanistan again. Now that promise is already being broken in an effort to prevent these critical manpower shortages that the US military is facing.

Force planners all agree that these units cannot be redeployed to the same combat zones repeatedly before it becomes a major morale problem, so new bodies will have to be found somewhere, and conscription (the draft) is really the only viable option left for the future, if things continue as they are with the US forces in the Middle East. Everybody in the military already knows this. It's just the US civilian population that is totally clueless on this issue right now, apparently. That's because this is an election year and no politician wants to talk about something so unpopular right now -- it can wait until next year, and when it happens it will happen very quickly, as it did during the Vietnam war. The whole draft system was set up and working before anybody could organize to protest it, and that was that. The rest is history.

genius went out specifically looking for links that supported his own biased views and he did manage to find a few; but I'll show you some others that paint a slightly different picture. Who's opinions turn out to be right and who's turns out to be wrong should become clear within the next 24 months, or there-a-bouts, I should think.

Funny you should bring up figures and quotes on the 82nd. I've served with a couple different units of the 82nd Airborne Division over the years; in fact that Division was actually my very first "permanent" military posting, way back in the day. As a brand new young paratrooper (a cherry) I first served with the 2nd Battalion of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Fond memories there, despite the situation they were involved in at the time (they were trying very hard just to hold the South Vietnamese capitol of Saigon together when I first arrived).

And, yes, they are indeed some very highly motivated boys, to be sure, and that particular Division always makes it's recruiting goals; in fact, the 82nd has the unique honor of always being the very first unit in the Army to skim the cream-of-the-crop of the Jump School grads off for integration into their various units. The 82nd is the top division in the US Army, and the 101st is the second most important unit, and they always get the very best of everything. The 82nd's and the 101st's recruiting figures have always been exemplary, and they always will be, but the recruiting situation in the 82nd and the 101st is NOT indicative of the recruiting situation of the US military as a whole right now, I'm afraid.

The Army is full of guys that hope to go to jump school and possibly even Ranger school, and then earn a slot in a unit that wears the maroon beret of the paratroops, or the tan beret of the Rangers. The competition for those slots is intense, and few candidates actually succeed in getting in. Others are attracted to the other special units of other branches of the military. The SEALS slots are always full, too, as are slots in Marine Recon, Air Combat Control, etc. That's all a given. None of those particular units ever have recruiting or retention problems.

It's the other 50% of the military, the Guard and Reserve components, who will have to be replaced by full active-duty draftee's - and that will have to happen before too very much longer. That's what all your selective references totally failed to take account of.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/ne...-retention.htm

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/...437475904.html

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...l=968350060724

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0109/d...te.html?s=entt

Just a few relevant links. I could show you literally hundreds more that clearly indicate that a draft is coming, if something doesn't change, if you want to see them...