What does it mean when the Vice President of the United States tells cadets in a historic speech at West Point that our military is “strongest when it fully reflects the people of America”? Should 42 percent of those in uniform be obese or more than 13 percent be taking antidepressants? Alternatively, maybe this means 50.5 percent of the force should be female, while American Indians would need to be dismissed because, at a little over 1 percent of the population, they serve in disproportionate numbers. 

Even if we concede that the Vice President was really only alluding to what she could see as she gazed out at the Long Gray Line, the point of a modern professional military is not to reflect the society from which it is drawn. Instead, we have a military to protect that society—all of us, along with our borders and our freedom on the seas, in the air, and across the global commons. Ironically, if we had compulsory national service with a military option, all sorts of representational goals could have been achieved by now. Imagine, too, for a moment the more serious issues universal service would also address. Would it help restore civic identity? Yes. Tighten the links between civic responsibilities and civic rights? Yes. Get youth to invest sweat equity in their own country? Yes again.