The nation needs to implement mandatory national service for all able bodied citizens. Underscoring the last word, mandatory national service and its ensuing benefits must be available only to citizens of the United States of America.
At age 18 or 60 days subsequent to graduation from high school, whichever occurs last, all able bodied citizens will be required to serve a period of three consecutive years of mandatory national service. All forms of national service will include introductory in residence training, aka "boot camp." This introductory training is described later.
National service will include serving in one of the existing programs, some of which will be converted from volunteer status, for example:
- Armed Forces
- Peace Corps
- Greatly expanded Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA)
- US Army Corps of Engineers
- National Park Service
- Fish and Wildlife Service
- Bureau of Land Management
- US Forest Service
- US Geological Survey
- National Resource Conservation
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency
- US Bureau of Reclamation
- Americorps
- Volunteer Generation Fund per Serve America Act
- Americorps National Civilian Community Corps
- Volunteers in Service to America
- Federal Emergency Management Agency Corps
- Note: State and local governments may choose to opt in, by providing state and locally funded positions ccomparable to those listed above.
Every component of the national service will include the following ancillary elements during introductory training, which will be conducted at residential sites (as done by the military during basic training):
- Personal financial management training.
- Consumer skills training, such as house buying, car buying, comparison shopping, credit card management, Internet security, etc.
- Citizenship skills training, such as applying for employment, resume construction, job interview skills, filing tax returns, voting, etc.
- Remedial English language arts, math, and writing for those identified by entry level evaluation during introductory training.
- Administration of interest inventories to help our citizens identify for which fields of employment they are best suited.
- Applying for college or trade schools.
- GED certificates for those who have not graduated from high school.
- Internships with applicable businesses.
Only upon successful completion of a three consecutive year stint in national service will citizens be eligible for:
- Federal student financial aid,
- Federal grants of any kind,
- Federal unemployment insurance,
- Federal health care subsidies,
- Federal employment,
- Federal home loans,
- Election/appointment to federal office, or
- Any of the 2,302 forms of assistance listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.
In addition to the above direct benefits, other indirect benefits of mandatory national service include:
- Identifying as American citizens.
- Earning federal benefits.
- Earning employment experience.
- Learning workplace teamwork.
- Leadership.
- Exposure to individuals from outside of ones immediate environment.
- Contributing to the nation, leading to developing citizenship.
- Gaining three years of crucial maturity before entering higher education, trade schools, or the employment market.
- Exposure to different parts of the country.
- Exposure to various fields of employment.
- Development and enhancement of adult social skills.
- Learning which fields of employment may suit the citizens best.
- Learning to manage personal finances.
- Reduction of student debt.
- Preparation for higher education or trade school.
This program employs our youth as soon as they have completed or departed high school, provides skills often noted as missing in the entry level workforce, enhances academic skills where needed, directly contributes to the welfare of the nation, builds effective citizenship, and breaks from the current approach. Federal benefits will be earned, rather than simply provided, and citizens will identify as Americans.
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