Reference no: EM13802346
Military personnel should not receive liberties not afforded to non-military citizens
All citizens in America are afforded the same rights as the other citizens to ensure a fair and unbiased society. Even though the military plays an important role in society they should not be afforded additional liberties just because they risk their lives to fight for their country. By that reasoning the police, firefighters, and other members in society providing a service designed to save lives should be afforded special treatment in American society. Allowing military soldiers to drink at the age of eighteen instead of 21 implies the law is ineffective and should be changed not that one citizen in society should receive better treatment than others.
The military is a necessary and important part of any society especially American society. Military soldiers make a sacrifice that can never be prepaid but that does not mean they need access to alcohol at the age of eighteen. Despite this argument some states are considering changing the law and allowing military soldiers to drink at the age of eighteen. The state of Rhode Island House of Representation will hear a bill making is legal for members of the armed forces to drink at the age of eighteen. This was after several soldiers were cited for drinking underage.
On one side of the argument soldiers and their supporter s find if a soldier can risk their life and fight for this country they should be able to drink. Soldiers are treated like adults and sent to do an adult job. Recently just about every soldier in the country was sent overseas to fight the war on terror and faced harsh conditions and the constant threat of death. Many military personnel questioned why they could die for their country but not be able to have a drink of alcohol. This age old question could finally be answered if the state of Rhode Island makes it a law for soldiers to drink at the age of eighteen.
On the other side of the argument 18 year olds are not old enough to drink. There is a reason the law was changed to ensure only adults could purchase alcohol. Eighteen is still a very young age where the youth still makes impulsive decisions that could potentially affect their future. The state of Alaska is another state considering legalizing drinking for eighteen year old soldiers. The negative side of the bill is that Alaska could lose at least $17 million in federal highway funding because of it would be a clear violation of the national minimum drinking age statue (Ruiz, 2013). So not only would eighteen years olds be able to drink the state would violate federal law.
The military is made up of people of all different ages but this does not means eighteen, nineteen and twenty year olds should drink. Despite this opinion a large majority of people in society believe if a person fights for their country they are old enough to drink. Federal law prohibits anyone under the age of 21 to drink. In the 1980's Federal law require military installation commanders to adopt the same drinking age as the state in which the military base is located (Powers, 2011). This includes foreign locations. If a country allows drinking at the age of eighteen then soldiers can consume alcohol t that age on the military base.
It is not the law in America to allow eighteen year olds to drink but some state support the idea. If the federal government supported the idea of 18 year olds drinking it would become federal law but because they allow eighteen year olds to drink overseas in countries allowing drinking at this age the line has become blurred. The military serves its country and is responsible for obeying the laws of the land. One of these laws is citizens cannot consume alcohol until the age of eighteen. A good soldier will obey the laws even if they do not necessarily agree.