Donald K. Allen for President

Compulsory National Service

In 1967 the Vietnam War was raging, and if you weren’t in college or had political/family influence, you were likely to get drafted sooner or later.  I graduated from high school in 1965, believing I couldn’t afford to go to college.  About that time, however, Rock Valley Junior College was founded and I discovered that a college education was a possibility.  I enrolled in pre-veterinary curriculum and gave it a try.  Throughout high school I never took any tough science courses, like chemistry or physics, so when I started at Rock Valley I included Chemistry 101.  I was so lost that after a couple weeks, I just stopped going to the class, assuming I would be dropped.  Didn’t know you had to officially withdraw!

When the semester ended, I received an F for the course, and knew that the draft was around the corner, so I decided to take control of my future.  To get a jump on the draft, I enlisted in the Air Force, and it was probably the most important, life-changing decision I’ve ever made.  I took the tests and aced the four categories of the qualifications exam, then got a 100% on the Armed Forces Entrance Exam.  My recruiter told me I could pick anything I wanted.  Still dreaming about being a vet, I picked medical technology, a 50-week course at a base in the South.  No problem, he said.

I had basic training at Amarillo AFB, TX, and at the end we were gathered in the day room to receive our tech school assignments.  One of the first called, my drill instructor said I was going to Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis.  I knew that wasn’t one of the medical training bases, so I said there must be a mistake.  He said, “Allen, you’re going to be a newspaperman!”  I was dumbfounded, crestfallen, disappointed, angry.  Nevertheless, it turned out to be one of the finest positions I could have received, and it helped me in many ways.  I already knew how to type, but now I learned story writing, military grammar, editing, photography and developing, history writing, public affairs, and interviewing.  From then on, writing reports in college was a breeze. 

I served just shy of four years, rising to Staff Sergeant, and serving at Mactan AB, Republic of the Philippines, then George AFB, CA, until I requested a 60-day early discharge to attend Midwest Horseshoeing School in Macomb, IL.  Now I was ready to tackle college again.  To make a long story short, the maturing experience of the military turned my life around.  Without it, I don’t know where life would have taken me.  I’m glad and grateful for the experience and truly believe everyone should likewise go through some form of compulsory national service in his or her life.  I’ve felt this way for many years, but Sept. 10, 2007 issue of Time magazine sent me back to the computer.  The cover story, “The Case for National Service,” is just what I’ve been talking about with one difference.  It promotes a voluntary program.  I really believe that if this were voluntary only about half of the people that truly need this experience would get it. 

Young people graduating from high school with no direction to their lives would have the choice of two or more years in a military service or a year or two in a civilian program.  I would resurrect the Civilian Conservation Corps and perhaps the Work Projects Administration to send young men and women throughout the country to improve our parks system, public buildings, monuments, forests, and wildlife preserves.  They would learn first aid, basic forestry, mason work, carpentry, plumbing, and other crafts that they would remember their entire lives.  A compulsory program would get them away from bad influences and dependencies, and help to instill self-respect, self-reliance, and the confidence needed to progress with their lives.

Two years passes before you know it, yet the experiences would help many to decide on a course for their futures, and the overall benefit would be a better society.