Fighting for a War or a Privilege?
While drinking in the military is a part of culture and tradition, they should not lower the drinking age for active duty because it gives them power they may not be ready for and it creates another set of ethical issues when the member is home. Taking into consideration that the legal age limit for consuming alcohol in most states is 21, lowering the age to 18 for an active duty military creates problems while that member is home. Here the arguments for and against explain the base of concern regarding active duty along with arguments already a concern for lowering the general drinking age. The major concern is whether or not it is right to allow underage active duty military members the privilege to consume alcohol.
The argument to lower the drinking age for active duty military: Drinking alcohol is a rite of passage to most adults. At age 18 a teenager becomes an adult. He is able to vote, be considered under the law as an adult, tried and convicted as an adult, but he cannot have a drink. He has given up his life willingly to join the military, fight in a war and hold a firearm. There may be times he is shot, wounded and still he not able to come home and have a beer with his superiors whom he just held arms with.
The military, like the Marine Corps, does not form an elite force of men and women simply by yelling orders at underlings or demand grueling rounds of laps around the yard. Rather, it is the skill of in-depth training, nonstop motivating, and world-class leadership and management. For more than 200 years, they have stood out at a task that every business leader knows is critical. Inspiring the troops to take initiative, accept liability, and actually want to go that extra mile are just a few of these. Because of the nature of combat, your job description is simply “be willing to give your life for your country”. So if their country is allowing them to go behind enemy lines in stick their neck out and be willing...