February 27, 2013Dear sir,Here is an opinion recently posted in a US paper about the compulsory, military service in Israel: “The military takes people at the age they would normally go to university or college in the US, and they spend time in compulsory military service. You find yourself doing things at a very tender age that you wouldn’t normally do at that age in other countries. People grow up. People develop skills sets that they might never develop. These are people who have learned problem-solving skills, to think quickly on their feet, to work together as teams. Typically that takes time to learn in life.”I have a feeling that this is the sort of thing Bermuda needs right now. It would not be weapons oriented, but certainly military in style. It would be full time, 24 hours a day, one weekend off a month. It would not be a lottery, everyone: male, female, married, single, mother, father, would be required to participate at age 18. We are not faced with military aggression by our neighbours like Israel, but we are certainly faced with issues with our youth that problem-solving and team work would help. And no cell phones allowed.PETER CARDHamilton