Intent aside, Ricks’ plan offers a viable national service program blueprint. High school graduates would have three avenues from which to choose: military service, civilian national service, or no service. The first two options would offer positive incentives such as college tuition assistance, medical care, and mortgage guarantees. Opting out of national service would be perfectly legal, but would come with the negative incentive of foregoing many of the entitlement benefits Americans have come to expect as part-and-parcel to citizenship. Perhaps superior plans will materialize in the future as America comes to terms with its inability to defend itself. For now, the Ricks Plan seems like a pretty good place to start.

Now is the time to implement a national service program. China no longer feigns friendship and has made its hegemonic intentions known. Russia continues to test amid the backdrop of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance that has seen much happier times. Alliances are vital, but fleeting. In the end, a nation-state can only truly rely on itself to ensure its interests. France, Sweden, and many other European nations have come to terms with this reality and returned to a national service model. While Americans should endeavor never to go it alone, American citizens must be prepared to heed the old Roman maxim: Si vis pacem, para bellum. That goes for everyone.

Nick De Gregorio is a 2018 graduate of Georgetown University’s Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs. Prior to his studies, Nick served nine years as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. He is a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Image: Then U.S. Army First Lieutenant Kirsten Griest (C) and fellow soldiers participate in combatives training during the Ranger Course on Fort Benning, Georgia, in this handout photograph taken on April 20, 2015 and obtained on August 20, 2015. When Griest and another woman completed the daunting U.S. Army Ranger school this week they helped end questions about whether women can serve as combat leaders, as the Pentagon is poised to open new roles, including elite Navy SEALs, to women in coming months. The feat by Griest and First Lieutenant Shaye Haver followed a re-evaluation of the role of women after their frontline involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and the end of a rule barring them from combat roles in 2013. REUTERS/Spc. Nikayla Shodeen/U.S. Army/Handout via Reuters FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS