U.S. voters strongly oppose the reinstitution of a military draft and are even more strongly in favor of an all-volunteer military. They also don’t think a year of mandatory public service is a good idea.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 20% of voters think the United States should have a military draft. Sixty-seven percent (67%) oppose the calling up of young people for military service. Fourteen percent (14%) are not sure whether it’s a good idea or not.

These numbers are largely unchanged from a survey in September 2007.

Among those most directly impacted by a draft, opposition understandably is even higher. Seventy-four percent (74%) of voters ages 18 to 29 are against a military draft, compared to 53% of those over age 65.

Seventy-two percent (72%) of voters nationwide favor an all-volunteer military like the United States has had since 1973 when the draft was abolished. Fifteen percent (15%) oppose an all-volunteer military, and 13% are undecided.

Twenty-five percent (25%) like the idea of requiring U.S. citizens to spend a year in public service, but that’s an 11-point drop in support from the survey two years ago. Sixty-three percent (63%) oppose such a requirement.

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Even though the country no longer has a draft, men ages 18 to 25 are still required to register with the Selective Service System as a contingency. Only 25% of voters think women also should be drafted. Sixty-five percent (65%) are opposed to the drafting of woman for the military.

These findings mark a substantial change from September 2007 when 41% believed women should be drafted and 49% disagreed.

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of female voters don’t think women should be drafted.

Twenty-one percent (21%) of all voters say an increase in the number of young people who serve in the military is better for the nation than an increase in the number of young people who finish college.

However, 64% disagree and say an increase in the number of young college graduates is better. Fifteen percent (15%) aren’t sure.

But 29% of voters ages 18 to 29 say an increase in the number of young people in the military is better, while 58% put the emphasis on more college graduates.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of all American adults think military service is good for young people.

Republicans are more supportive of a military draft than Democrats and voters not affiliated with either party, but they like the all-volunteer military more, too. GOP voters also are more strongly opposed to drafting women.

But Democrats and unaffiliateds like the idea of requiring citizens to spend a year in public service more than Republicans do.

Thirty-two percent (32%) of Republican voters think an increase in the number of young people in military service is better for the country than increasing the number of young college graduates. Just 14% of Democrats and 19% of unaffiliated voters agree.

Some critics of the fighting in Afghanistan have been calling recently for a restoration of the military draft, arguing that this will increase opposition to the eight-year-old war. Forty-five percent (45%) of voters believe it is possible for the United States to win the war in Afghanistan, but 29% do not and another 25% aren’t sure.

Twenty percent (20%) of voters say all American troops should be brought home from Afghanistan immediately, and another 17% believe a firm timetable should be established to bring all troops home within a year.

Sixty-six percent (66%) of Americans believe military service is more stressful than most other occupations. Twenty-eight percent (28%) say veterans of today’s conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan face more challenges when they return home than veterans of the Vietnam War.

Eighty-one percent (81%) of Americans now have a favorable opinion of the U.S. military, the highest finding in five years of surveying by Rasmussen Reports.

Voter confidence in America’s conduct in the War on Terror is at its lowest level in nearly three years.

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