NEWFANE — I think there should be a National Service Year (NSY), a program that would be a win-win situation for American youth and for our country.
This training would settle youth down and give them needed self-confidence. It would give them experience in self control and in working within a group of other young people, who would be able to choose a work training program that would give them a head start on a future career.
Young people who intend to go on to college would have a year of real-life experience that would help them see the importance of further education. The government could offer financial help.
Most Americans today do not have any military experience and would be wary of such a plan. This is understandable, but shortsighted. Maybe NSY could be compared to teaching young people how to swim: nobody seems too interested in providing swimming lessons, but in an emergency, that skill is often life saving, not just for the swimmer, but for others in danger of drowning.
After NSY training, every American would have a basic understanding of military procedure - a big advantage not just in everyday life, but also in possible encounters with other nations or terrorists.
Some people are opposed to anything to do with the military and would put down the idea of NSY without even considering its merits. They would say that it was the government's way of creating a militaristic citizenry. However, my experience is that most people who have been in the military are happy to get out and are not eager to go back in, but they carry with them life lessons and improved character from all aspects of the military life, good and bad. The NSY program would seek to give these young people the better parts of the military experience and avoid the not-so-good parts.
The absolute key to the NSY program is to have every young person, male and female, participate. This puts the program on a fair and equitable basis. Military service itself is a democratizing experience. Rich kids and poor kids alike would be required to do the same training, shoulder to shoulder. Sectarian and other prejudices would be lessened by living with people of different backgrounds.
Certain differences would have to be taken into account, such as the overweight young people who would be put into their own special regimens. Would you want to bet that after the three months of basic training, they would be trimmed down, healthier, and happier?
When this country was using the Selective Service (the draft), there was a lot of unfair picking and choosing of who went into service and who did not. This situation caused many of those who had to go to war to be bitter about the ones who were able to avoid service because their fathers had influence, because they lied about their family responsibilities, or because they used other evasions.
The NSY program would not have the life-and-death aspect of wartime military service.
It would go something like this:
1) Every young person in the United States, male and female, would be required to serve one year in the NSY program, some time between their 16th and 19th birthdays. Drop out of high school, and you would be in the program as soon as you reach 16. Graduate from high school, and you would be placed in the program immediately after graduation.
2) The first three months of NSY training would be very similar to the U.S. Army's basic training, which stresses getting the recruits into good physical shape, and teaching the rules for obeying commands and for working together as a unit. Firearms use and safety would be useful knowledge, whether one has any interest in guns or not. Having a knowledge of firearms is an important part of growing up.
3) The second three months would be devoted to instruction in the recruit's choice of a job, such as computer operator, helicopter mechanic, nurse, cook, motor pool driver, vehicle mechanic, police officer, legal clerk, tank driver, supply clerk, heavy equipment operator, or radar operator. The recruits would be sent to a camp or training center, where they would receive training.
4) The final six months would find the recruits assigned to a military installation, where they would be involved in on-the-job training. They would work alongside Army, Navy, or Air Force members. Just ask employers whether they would want a high school graduate or someone who had an additional year of U.S. Army training, and I bet they'd opt for the NSY-trained person.
NSY would give teens better citizenship skills, an improved understanding of democracy, and the educational benefit of working in an adult environment. Military training is recognized as having an effect on reducing crime.
NSY would have an impact on the unemployment problem in our country. The large group of young people who get out of high school every year and are unable to find a job would be swept up and given something of importance to do.
Some countries around the world have successful programs specifically for military training for their youth, notably Israel. Because of Israel's situation, with enemies all around, that country's young people understand the need for such a program and they participate in it.
In the world we live in today, a training program like NSY could be viewed as an insurance policy providing a sense of security. “Be prepared” is the byword.