Reply #2: Not necessarily....

[punpirate]

If this simply raises the force authorization numbers, a draft wouldn't provide any immediate relief. Wouldn't see any change in people on the ground in eight months to a year.

What this likely does is enable the Army to pull people back in from the inactive reserves. The current requirement is eight years of service, only some of which may been active duty. Someone getting out after three or four years leaves a minimum of four years to grab someone and yank them back in. Such people are already trained, and may need only brief refresher courses or "just to remind you what the military is like" training. They can be in Iraq in a few weeks.