CIAO DATE: 11/2014
May 2014
Foreign Policy Research Institute
In 1970, the President’s Commission on an All-Volunteer Armed Force delivered its report to the President of the United States, Richard Nixon. In the report, better known as the Gates Commission due to the leadership of former Secretary of Defense Thomas Gates, the members of the Commission stated, “We unanimously believe that the nation’s interests will be better served by an all-volunteer force, supported by an effective stand-by draft.” They added, “We have satisfied ourselves that a volunteer force will not jeopardize national security, and we believe it will have a beneficial effect on the military as well as the rest of our society.”[1] In June of 1973, after years of debate, the statutory authority for the draft expired and the all-volunteer force became a reality.
Resource link: From Black Boots to Desert Boots: The All-Volunteer Army Experiment Continues [PDF] - 263K