I see nothing with this other than the title is semi misleading. Latvia is training these draftees to be reservists, not professional military members. They are intended to augment the professional military.

As much as I would have hated this when I was young, looking back it could have helped me and a lot of other folks. I wish we had a two year requirement for public service, though I wouldn’t limit it to military. I’d expand it to forestry, trail building, boys and girls clubs, trade guilds, etc.

Service encourages civic engagement, it’s fosters a sense of duty to one’s country, it teaches a skill or trade, and maybe, just maybe, it will foster some sense of pride and discipline as well. Two things lacking right now in the states are a sense of comradery and civic engagement (I’m not talking about the whiny social media kind).

Afterwards, perhaps an additional incentive would be that it would count as one year of core curriculum at a Uni, and/or maybe a discount to tuition. For the trades routes, it would count as years towards journeyman, etc.

Moreover, I don’t think this is really a unique idea, Israel employs it. I think the Soviet Union did to some extent as well.

I’m 20 years past the time when people are typically conscripted, so I’m likely at no risk of mandatory service now, nonetheless I’d gladly serve as a mentor and pass down the knowledge I’ve gained over the years to a group of youngsters.

So that all is to say, just as the Latvian foreign minister is saying, there can some real advantages to employing some flavor of conscripted service, and, if employed well, I think we’d all be better for it.