S Folinsky

The DOD was reorganized after the Vietnam War. There was a belief among senior officers was that relying on draft was less politically unpalatable than calling up the Reserves or National Guard. So, the idea was more tightly integrate the NG and Reserves into the active forces such that the it would be quite difficult to deploy without NG or Reserves -- and thereby less likely that there would be politically unpopular deployments. Decades later, the law of unintended consequences kicked in.

Jerseygirl

Or the US could bomb the hell out of the UK until he was handed over.

RICH

I suppose I was assuming the US & UK would be allies. Not necessarily going to be the case. Our guy will probably be Interned, or shot!

Michael

Or at least water boarded.

Pulaski

I can't imagine a war that America got involved in where the UK would not be allies, unless it involved Argentina and the Falklands, or some utterly absurd adventure like the storming of Grenada, which IMO made the Iraq war look like a well thought out good idea!

I think most of Europe thinks of the UK as America's poodle anyway after the first and second Iraq/Gulf wars and Afghanistan, where the UK was the only country that supported all three wars from beginning to end with more than a token force.

sir_eccles

If the US invaded Canada, I think the UK would probably have a few strong words to say before joining the US.

S Folinsky

I know some dual-national US/UK citizens who were subject to conscription from both countries during the 60's. From what I understand, there was an agreement part of the NATO Treaty that took care of it.

From World War II, there were situations of dual nationals of belligerents, at least on the US end of things, conscription into the ranks of the enemy was tolerated. However, if one went beyond being a simple enlisted man, there were potential problems. There is case law on this.

I have one Israeli friend who served as a conscript in the Six-day War and then immigrated to the US where he was subject to conscription for the Vietnam War. He applied for Conscientious Objector status saying with a wink and a nod that he formed a deep religious and spiritual objection to war after his combat experiences in the Israeli Army. His draft board granted the application even though technically he was not entitled to the exemption.

Pulaski

But that is a war I cannot imagine!

sir_eccles

You know some fevered mind in the Pentagon has run a scenario on it though. Raving mad Quebecois high on poutine gravy seize power in Canada and shut down the Keystone pipeline provoking an international incident. To secure their oil supply the US invades Canada...

kimilseung

It was called War Plan Red (Against Britain, but included invasion of Canada)

Jerseygirl

Their land is on our oil...so what do they expect?

scrubbedexpat099

More likely the other way around:

guitarmaan

This may have been covered already, but when I applied for a federal job I was required to present a Selective Service exemption letter. Without it I was ineligible for hiring. So make sure you have that if you think an employer might want it.