Posted by Victor from ON Canada on May 24, 2021 at 10:11:09:
In Reply to: Mandatory service, but not necessarily military service posted by Michael Dorosh on May 23, 2021 at 19:33:34:
Basically, the concept is every male of a certain age is liable to serve in the sedentary militia. With service comes no pay, but you get the government benefits we have all come to rely on so much (ie, health care). Folks who opt out can go to the private sector. There are also bonuses or prizes for long and efficient service -- people would be more likely to stay in shape if they know there's a reward in it for them.
It would be like spreading basic training over a few years. Every year, the sedentary militia, organized by county, meets at a common provincial training ground for a couple of weeks to do route marching, orienteering, military drill and all that physical stuff a soldier has to learn. I suppose rifle practice could be thrown in there as well. I'm told it takes 2 years to properly train an infantryman, but even if the sedentary militia isn't completely trained, there is at least a large body of strong, physically fit men who are partially trained (better than no training) to call on in the event of an emergency.
Not everyone who opts for the sedentary militia would be fit for service, though. That's ok, there's plenty of administrative work that needs to be done to keep an army going. Does a typist or a clerk really need to be able to do 30 push ups? Is it at all relevant to their job? They could do longer service terms due to the physical ease of their job, but should not be excluded from serving in some capacity. That could also release a lot of people from office jobs in the regular CF to beef up those forces.
Would this force be combat ready at a moment's notice? Of course not. But what they would be good for is riot control, forest fires, natural disaster relief, etc. Plus, as I mentioned before, they would be at least partially trained military-wise, so should WW3 break out (assuming it's a conventional war), we could have our manpower mobilized in half the time it would take otherwise.
Just a thought of mine. Perhaps an ROTC program in our schools would be a good idea too.