This book examines the extensive influence of the All-Volunteer Force (AVF) on the past, present and future of America, demonstrating how the AVF encompasses the most significant issues of military history and defense policy.
* Includes primary source focusing on the advent of the All Volunteer Force
* Offers useful analysis for students, scholars, analysts, researchers, and policymakers
* Audience in professional military education, including service academies, command and general staff colleges, and war colleges
In his latest book, William A. Taylor delivers a concise and lucid account of the momentous transition from the draft to the all-volunteer force (AVF) and reflects on its significant legacy after fifty years of service. In doing so, he highlights the vital linkages between who serves in the military and how they do so. This book should be required reading for students, scholars, and readers interested in the AVF and its profound relationship to American society.
Lawrence J. Korb, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense
Everyone should read William A. Taylor's The Advent of the All-Volunteer Force. He provides a wealth of primary sources that readers can explore to understand who serves in America's military. He brilliantly takes the reader from the draft system to the all-volunteer force, demonstrating it as a pivotal moment in American history.
Jeremy P. Maxwell, author of Brotherhood in Combat: How African Americans Found Equality in Korea and Vietnam
William A. Taylor is the Lee Drain Endowed University Professor of Global Security Studies at Angelo State University.
1. Conscription in America: The Draft during the 1940s and 1950s 2. In Pursuit of Equity: The Draft during the 1960s 3. How to End the Draft: The Campaign for the AVF during the 1960s 4. The First Indispensable Step: The Gates Commission 5. Our Commitment to Freedom: The AVF and Its Legacy