Owatonna, MN Correspondent-There is a correlating reason the American military has been downgraded (assuming downgraded means reduced in size). We are no longer fully engaged in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which was the primary reason for the buildup in the early 2000s. The number of troops and weapons available should ebb and flow based … Continue reading In the last seven years, the American military has been significantly downgraded. With the end of the draft in 1973 and the development of the all volunteer military and a now dwindling military force, should the draft be reinstated to fill the gaps and attract a wider variety of individuals?