I Want You!: The Evolution of the All-volunteer Force - Hardcover

Rostker, Bernard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0833038958 ISBN 13: 9780833038951

Publisher: RAND, 2006

Synopsis

As U.S. military forces appear overcommitted and some ponder a possible return to the draft, the timing is ideal for a review of how the American military transformed itself over the past five decades, from a poorly disciplined force of conscripts and draft-motivated volunteers to a force of professionals revered throughout the world. all-volunteer force and a review of the major policy questions and research undertaken to support Department of Defense decision makers over the past 40 years. Starting in the early 1960s, the account runs through the current war in Iraq, alternating chapters between the history of the all-volunteer force and the analytic background that supported decision making. The author, who participated as an analyst and government policymaker in many of the events covered in this book, provides a behind-the-scenes look at Pentagon and White House decision making. materials on this subject, including a vast archive of material recently declassified to support this project. An accompanying DVD contains more than 1,700 primary-source documents linked from citations in the electronic edition of the book - including government memoranda, Presidential memos and letters, staff papers, and reports. research and analysis impacts decision making, and how policy decisions made decades ago influence and provide insight into public policy issues today. The book includes a Foreword by Melvin R. Laird, former Secretary of Defense.

About this title

About the Author

Bernard Rostker is a senior fellow at the RAND Corporation, where he has served as Associate Director of the RAND Arroyo Center and Director of the Defense Manpower Research Center in the RAND National Defense Research Institute. He was formerly Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, the Secretary of Defense's senior policy advisor on recruitment, career development, pay, and benefits for 1.4 million active duty military personnel, 1.3 million Guard and Reserve personnel, and 725,000 DoD civilians. He also had oversight responsibilities for the DoD health delivery system. Prior to that, he served as Under Secretary of the Army, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, and Director of Selective Service, where he formulated the Selective Service Revitalization Plan. Under his leadership, the first mass selective service registration since World War II was executed, and almost four million young men registered. Over his career, Dr. Rostker has been nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate four times and received a number of awards, including the Distinguished Service Medal from the Selective Service, the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Army, and the Department of Defense. Dr. Rostker is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Synopsis

Should the U.S. reinstate the draft? With this inside look at the Pentagon and the White House, the author reviews the American military's transformation over the past thirty years into the world's finest fighting force, and describes why the volunteer force is still the best strategy for our national security. A vast archive of government documents on DVD allows readers to view exchanges between government officials at the highest level-including formally classified memorandum between Presidents and Secretaries of Defense-revealing for the first time the inner story of the All-Volunteer Force.

Edition details

• Publisher: RAND
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0833038958
• ISBN 13: 9780833038951
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 850