The United States has not had a military draft (conscription) since the Vietnam War. The last conscription was in 1973. Perhaps it is our patriotism (or maybe because there are recurring recessions) that military continues to maintain its forces through volunteer enlistments. At present, the scale of US troops abroad is 247,000 people. Of those there are 42,000 in Europe, 25,000 in So. Korea and 47,000 in Japan. According to Wikipedia the U.S. military is composed of almost three million personnel, of which approximately half are reserve personnel. Of course all of this information is based upon the data on the internet.
There is little discussion in the press about the size of military force we need to protect our nation. There does not appear to be any discussion about the need to maintain a military force in any of those places listed above. I support a strong military to protect our nation. My questions are
1.Why do we need a substantial military force in any country that is friendly to us?
2.How big should our military be to protect our nation?
3.Should we have a compulsory draft to share the burden?
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