America is at war abroad and fractured at home. The time has come for a radical, simple idea: every young American between 18 and 28 must give one year of service to their nation.
Today, the United States asks almost nothing from its citizens in return for freedom. Fewer than one percent serve in the military. Sacrifice vanishes from the national conversation, and leaders who have never worn a uniform make life-and-death decisions about war.
The gap between the country and its defenders widens by the day. In such a system, it becomes easy to believe that serving the nation is someone else's job.
A mandatory year of national service—military or civilian—would start to close that chasm. Imagine a generation beginning adulthood not just with personal ambition, but with a shared commitment.
Some would join the armed forces. Others would teach children who struggle to read, rebuild communities after disasters, protect forests and waterways, or care for the elderly. The work would differ. The purpose would be the same.
National service would forge something essential for public life: character. And character is not built in comfort—it is built through responsibility, rising early for a task bigger than yourself, working alongside people who think differently, and learning discipline, resilience, and humility.
These are not abstract virtues. They are habits carved by experience.
The architects of our republic understood this truth. A self-governing nation needs citizens capable of self-government—people who know that freedom rests not only on rights, but on duties.
Today, too many worry that public life is hollowed out by a deficit of character. Leadership too often rewards division over duty. The pursuit of power and self-aggrandizement crushes the spirit of service. A year of service could reshape an entire generation with a depth of character and devotion to America's ideals.
Service also pulls people together at a time when politics pushes them apart. It would place young Americans from every belief and every corner of the country into shared work. A student from Boston could rebuild homes alongside a peer from rural Alabama. A woman from Los Angeles might tutor children with a man from Iowa.
Stereotypes dissolve into friendships. Suspicion yields to understanding. Shared effort has always been one of the most powerful cures for division.
The idea runs deep in American history. Nearly every president since Washington has spoken of service as central to the nation's health. In crises, Americans have answered the call on a massive scale—millions in uniform during World War II, millions more in factories, fields, and civil defense.
But service has also shaped America in peacetime. During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps put millions of young people to work restoring forests, building parks, and protecting natural treasures. It provided jobs and dignity in hardship, and left a lasting legacy.
We need that spirit of shared commitment again.
Some will argue that mandatory civilian service violates the Constitution. But legal guidance shows a program can offer choices to avoid conflicts with involuntary servitude, liberty, and free speech protections.
Others will claim the cost is too high. Yet we already have a national service system with AmeriCorps and the military—expanding it to reach every young American is feasible. Veterans and community leaders can help. The price tag, around $30 billion a year, is modest—just 0.5% of the federal budget. Nonprofits would gain human capital to meet their missions. Benefits like the GI Bill would help more people attend college and find productive work.
Still others will say America's greatest value is liberty, and we should never compel service. We believe Americans will do more to protect liberty, the Constitution, and the rule of law if they have experienced serving their country. One year in a lifetime is not too much to ask.
America has always been defined not only by individual aspiration, but by common purpose. We built railroads across a continent, lifted generations from poverty, and reached the moon because we believed great challenges required collective effort.
Today, challenges are no less demanding: renewing trust in institutions, healing divisions, providing opportunity, revitalizing democracy, and sustaining alliances to preserve peace.
A year of national service will not solve every problem. But it would do something just as vital. It would remind Americans—especially the next generation—that this country belongs to them, and its future depends on their willingness to serve.
