I don't understand ANY argument for conscription. Of all the laws on the books that are still "acceptable" in modernity from even the "progressive" crowd, the one that perplexes me the most is conscription.
For me, it's just so simple: If a government needs to force people to fight for the government then the government has no right to exist. A legitimate government should be able to raise a fully volunteer army because all the citizens the government represents wants to fight to defend this government.
Just think about it for a moment. Supposedly some evil enemy is coming to rape your women and kill all the men or enslave everyone by taking their rights away. Everyone should want to defend against that, no? If someone doesn't volunteer to fight against that then clearly they've decided that rape and death is better than... rape and death? Or, perhaps they've decided they can still live without dying for a country and they'd rather this conclusion.
How can anyone justify using force to force something to go to war and die against their will?
I hate the concept of conscription so much I think anyone who suggests it should be hanged, tbh. You want people to fight for you? Offer them an incentive then.
Mandatory military training can be moral, because by the time you recognise you need the training it might already be too late. It's like first aid training: it's only a waste of time until you need it, then you'll be glad you had it.
Mandatory service I think could be moral under very limited circumstances. If the murderrapists are coming to get you, it is immoral to be a freeloader and rely on everyone else putting themselves in harm's way to protect your community while you cower behind them.
The murderrapists are coming to get us anyway and the military is training to kill us if we resist.