From the Archives: All Volunteer Force Feasible

Courtesy Photo | Editor's Note - This story originally appeared in the Bolling Air Force Base (BAFB) newspaper, Bolling Beam, Nov. 14, 1969. BAFB is one of three military properties that now constitute Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB). The Department of Defense [DoD] is studying the possibilities and feasibilities of instituting an all-volunteer force for the military services. This study is being made at the behest of President Nixon in an attempt to better military life and eliminate the need for the induction of manpower into the armed forces.  

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES

11.13.2014

Story by Michelle Gordon 

Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling

Editor's Note - This story originally appeared in the Bolling Air Force Base (BAFB) newspaper, Bolling Beam, Nov. 14, 1969. Minimal edits were made to ensure the transcription conforms to current newswriting standards. BAFB is one of three military properties that now constitute Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB).


Courtesy of the Armed Forces Press Service, 1969

The Department of Defense [DoD] is studying the possibilities and feasibilities of instituting an all-volunteer force for the military services.

This study is being made at the behest of President Nixon in an attempt to better military life and eliminate the need for the induction of manpower into the armed forces.

The main questions are: What will it mean to you? When will it go into effect? What are some of the President's guidelines?

To answer the first question, it will undoubtedly mean, in the long run, a more professional military service, higher wages, more housing, more pride, more esprit de corp. It could mean more of all of the things a professional serviceman and woman deserves.

When will it go into effect? The answer to this is not yet known. Several factors are involved. Roger T. Kelley, assistant secretary of defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, is responsible for Project Volunteer.

As an initial step in developing an action program, Kelly has asked each military department to review its entire range of options outlined in the study plan and to submit recommendations to him on desirable and feasible actions to move DoD toward the all-volunteer force goal.

Recruitment and retention of manpower are the main requirements. The study will be based on the principle that any change in manpower procurement will be acceptable only if it assumes that the services will be provided with sufficient manpower needed to meet our national security objectives. The President has made this emphatically clear.

And what about the draft? The defense department, to date, believes the draft authority will be retained and the Selective Service system will remain in a standby status with all of its machinery ready for immediate use - if and when needed. Male citizens within certain age groups will not be called - unless necessity requires it. Several proposals to amend the current draft practices will undoubtedly be accepted and put into law.

However, President Nixon has also made it clear that the all-volunteer force concept, if put into force, will apply only to the period after the involvement in the Republic of Vietnam has ended and when military manpower requirements can be safely reduced.

But all in all, the study indicates that it may result in many sound and attractive reasons for enhancing recruiting and retaining a professional all-volunteer force in sufficient numbers to meet America's security needs.

• Date Taken: 11.13.2014
• Date Posted: 11.13.2014 11:55
• Story ID: 147727
• Location: WASHINGTON, DC, US