Why Military Service should not Be Mandatory
write an argumentative essay in
1500 words
– I should write and introduction the last line
should include my claim which is (military
services shouldn’t be mandatory)
– I have sample word document shows you
how to write the body and the
counterargument.
– I shouldn’t use “I think” or “in my opinion”
– i should have 2 counterargument and a
rebuttal paragraph
– conclusion
– I have the references list down below these
are the only references I should use
Solution
Introduction
Many countries have made military services compulsory whereas in some countries it is
not mandatory. Military service refers to a service by group of people or even an individual in
an army either selected through conscription or voluntarily. According to Omondi (2017) around
26 states have ensured that military service are mandatory, such countries include, Egypt,
Thailand, Ukraine, Turkey and North Korea among others. There are several reasons why these
nations have made military service mandatory one of them being to promote security as some of
these nations experience security threats hence the need of a large army. Countries such as Korea
spend a lot of money to finance training cost and purchase weapons needed by the army.
However, the majority of the nations believe that military service should not be made mandatory
due to issues as mental health issues owing to the psychological problems soldiers encounter
after they watch as their friends being injured or being killed. This issue helps to bring a deeper
understanding on why military service should not be made mandatory. As such, military service
should not be made mandatory as individuals tend to feel they being forced to what they do not
want which results to psychological problem.
Military Service should not Mandatory
As mentioned above, military service should not be made compulsory. One of the major
reasons for this claim is that it may lead to mental health problems. First, some of the soldiers
who are recruited to provide military service already have mental health problems; however most
of them acquire this illness while still serving their country. According to Young (2016) more
than 10% of military soldiers have been diagnosed with two or more mental problems. In other
words, some of the incidents that soldiers encounter in the battle field including serious injuries
ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY 3
often affect them psychologically since they are unable to handle situations on their own hence
resulting to mental illness. Secondly, long-term separation from family members especially those
who are in foreign countries experience mental health problems. According to a study conducted
Young (2016) military soldiers get mental problems due to lack of family connection influenced
by lack of communication which makes the soldier think as though they are on their own. This is
an important aspect which should be considered before making military service mandatory since
some of those who are forced are not used to the idea of being far from their families. As a result,
making military service mandatory would result to mental illness due to long-term separation
from their families and their loved ones.
Thirdly, there is also the issue of indecision commonly as indecision whereby the military
soldiers are able to make decisions quick as they not certain on what is right or wrong. The
review by Young (2016) showed that the majority of the service members do not know what
exactly the future holds for them. This aspect is important to this topic as it brings a deeper
understanding on why some of the military soldiers are unproductive in their real life. In other
words, military soldiers often their lives revolves around waiting for a risky deployments, new
assignments and other tasks that alters their life completely. As such, these people their ability to
plan for their future is impended which also created anxiety. Owing to these mental challenges,
it is important for the government such aspects before concluding that military service should be
mandatory.
Apart from the mental health issues that soldier’s experience, the second reason why
military service should not be made compulsory is because people expect them to serve them
fully yet they do not receive their compensation. According to Friedersdorf (2013) the fact that
military people sign up for their love of their country does not mean that they are not entitled to
ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY 4
their pay and compensation. In other words, the country expects to be provided with security and
other services from the military but they do not pay them well nor give them compensation.
Secondly, making military service mandatory could essentially harm some people due to the
diversity in the society. According to Friedersdorf (2013) some people value their youth life
especially those who are 18-22 years who began to think that they have waste so much time in
the military while they could be somewhere better. In other words, individual who forcefully join
military service do not achieve their dreams as they planned. Thirdly, coercing young people to
join the military service and later taking them abroad does not benefit the world and the nation.
According Friedersdorf (2013) there is no benefit in making young adults to spend their life
abroad after they get recruited in the military. In other words, there is gain in coercing young
people join military service then separate them from their families by taking them to work
abroad for year. Therefore, coercing young adults to join military service could essentially cause
a lot of damage to their future career and dreams.
Additionally, some of the military members do not perform well in labor market and are
constantly involved in crime apart from being weakened while recruited. First according to
Randi Hjalmarson & Linquist (2016) individual who are involuntarily recruited are mostly
involved in crime activities as they do not appreciate their career due to the feeling that they
should be somewhere better. In other words, these groups of individuals often perform poorly in
the labor market as they also weakened to perform their other duties and responsibilities. Third,
Randi Hjalmarso &Linquist (2016) also argues that poor performance in the labor market and
involvement in crime could be as a result of peer pressure that influences these people into
engaging in unlawful acts. In other words, peer pressure plays a huge role in bad influence on
those individuals who were compelled to join the military. Therefore, it can be argued that
ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY 5
making military service mandatory could affect those who are compelled as they do not have all
it takes to deal with peers.
Counter Argument and Rebuttal
Nevertheless, some opponents argue that military service should be made mandatory.
This means that young adults or even citizen should military service willingly or unwillingly.
According to Sankr (2018) making military service compulsory is one of the effective strategies
for nurturing self-discipline and patriotism among the youth. In other words, the training service
that recruits gets gives them an opportunity to become patriotic to their country and also lead to
self- discipline due to the strict morals taught. It may be true that young adults become self-
discipline and respected members of the society, however this argument not all recruits become
patriotic to their country. As argued by Randi Hjalmarso &Linquist (2016) some of the soldiers
engage in crime activities due to force conscription. As a result, although some propents still
believe that forcing people into the military service is a way of increasing security one thing that
is clear is that there are those who are involved in crime activities.
Counter Argument and Rebuttal
Other critics claim that making military service mandatory is an effective strategy to
reduce tension that young Emirati adults are becoming lazy hence it’s a strategy for shaping the
country workforce. This simply means that, making military service mandatory will assist in
making young Emirati men productive in the society as they have continued to become lazy.
According to Alterman (2018) in the UAE there is an increasing fear that most of the young
adults are becoming “soft” and lazy. In other words, through making military service mandatory
most of those idling Emirati men will be working rather than lazily spending their time at home
ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY 6
doing nothing. However, the soldiers are often expected to fully serve their nation yet they
receive little or no compensation. As claimed Friederdorf (2013) it is practically unfair to claim
joining a military service is the beginning of success yet the pay is very poor such that one
performs poorly in the labor market. Therefore, forcing young adults join the military in the
name they are becoming lazy yet the pay is not good is something that should be considered
before making the verdict.
Conclusion
This essay has examined the issue of military service concerning why it should not be
made mandatory. This is an important aspect in understanding why some countries have made
military service compulsory while in others it not a must. This essay has argued that military
service should not be made mandatory owing to the various issues presented. Military service
should not be made mandatory as it can cause mental health problems to individual, ruins an
individual in terms of goals and aspirations and also makes an individual to perform poorly in the
labor market. However, there are those scholars who believe that military service reduces
laziness and also enables youth to be patriotic and self-discipline. However, I believe that this
military service should not be made compulsory in the future people should be consulted or
perhaps should be made optional rather than coercing people into it.
ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY 7
References
Alterman, J. (2018)Citizens in Training: Conscription and Nation-building in the United Arab
Emirates. Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Retrieved from
https://www.csis.org/analysis/citizens-training-conscription-and-nation-building-united-
arab-emirates
Friedersdorf, C. (2013) The Case Against Universal National Service. The Atlantic. Retrieved
from https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/06/the-case-against-universal-
national-service/277230/
Omondi, S. (2017, Sep.6) Countries with Mandatory Military Service. Retrieved from
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-mandatory-military-service.html
Randi Hjalmarson, R. &Linquist, M. (2016, Oct. 6)The Causal Effect of Military Conscription
on Crime and the Labour Market. Retrieved from http://www.sole-jole.org/17511.pdf
Sankr, A. (2018, July. 8), UAE National service term extended. AL Khaleej times. Retrieved
from https://www.khaleejtimes.com/news/government/uae-national-service-term-
extended
Young, J. (2016, Jun.10) Military Mental Health. understanding the crisis. Retrieved
from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/when-your-adult-child-breaks-your-
heart/201606/military-mental-health
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