Military recruitment suffers from ‘wokeness,’ weakness and sickness

[Sugar Cookie]

We live in the land of the free because of the brave. So many Americans seem to take that for granted. We must do more to ensure a fully functioning volunteer U.S. military.

So far this year, the U.S. Army has only hit about 40% of its recruiting goals according to published reports last week. Recruitment goals were met by each branch of the military during the pandemic, but reserve numbers were down. The slow down in recruitment for active duty has now hit the Army and the Navy, while the other branches just hit their goals.

Retention levels were high during the early stages of COVID-19 as there were significant levels of uncertainty. At the same time, recruitment efforts were hurt during the pandemic as schools and colleges were shut down. Now, many service members are leaving for jobs in a very competitive environment for employees. High departures and declining recruitment spells trouble on the horizon — unless changes are made going forward.

Much to my surprise, about 75% of America’s 17- to 24-year-olds were ineligible for military service due to lack of education, obesity, other physical problems or criminal history, according to a report issued by the Mission: Readiness group. That is a huge problem as a vast percentage of the young people in Generation Z are not prepared to serve in the military.

“Woke” policies, union bosses and education bureaucrats are largely to blame for this lack of preparation. Two years of shutdowns have been devastating to so many students. We are just starting to see the negative impact on educational attainment, as well as physical and mental health issues. Young people were the least likely to face serious harm from COVID-19, yet they faced some of the longest periods of isolation from closures.

Continue reading at link

Military recruitment suffers from ‘wokeness,’ weakness and sickness

We live in the land of the free because of the brave. So many Americans seem to take that for granted. We must do more to ensure a fully functioning volunteer U.S. military.

www.washingtontimes.com

Every branch of the U.S. military is struggling to meet its fiscal year 2022 recruiting goals, say multiple U.S. military and defense officials, and numbers obtained by NBC News show both a record low percentage of young Americans eligible to serve and an even tinier fraction willing to consider it.

The officials said the Pentagon’s top leaders are now scrambling for ways to find new recruits to fill out the ranks of the all-volunteer force. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austinand Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks consider the shortfall a serious issue, said the officials, and have been meeting on it frequently with other leaders.


“This is the start of a long drought for military recruiting,” said Ret. Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr of the Heritage Foundation, a think tank. He said the military has not had such a hard time signing recruits since 1973, the year the U.S. left Vietnam and the draft officially ended. Spoehr said he does not believe a revival of the draft is imminent, but “2022 is the year we question the sustainability of the all-volunteer force.”

The pool of those eligible to join the military continues to shrink, with more young men and women than ever disqualified for obesity, drug use or criminal records. Last month, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville testified before Congress that only 23% of Americans ages 17-24 are qualified to serve without a waiver to join, down from 29% in recent years.

An internal Defense Department survey obtained by NBC News found that only 9% of those young Americans eligible to serve in the military had any inclination to do so, the lowest number since 2007.

The survey sheds light on how both Americans’ view of the military and the growing civilian-military divide may also be factors in slumping recruitment, and how public attitudes could cause recruiting struggles for years to come.

More than half of the young Americans who answered the survey — about 57% — think they would have emotional or psychological problems after serving in the military. Nearly half think they would have physical problems.

“They think they’re going to be physically or emotionally broken after serving,” said one senior U.S. military official familiar with the recruiting issues, who believes a lack of familiarity with military service contributes to that perception.

Continue reading at link

Why is the U.S. military struggling to recruit young Americans?

With a record low number of Americans eligible to serve, and few of those willing to do it, this "is the year we question the sustainability of the all-volunteer force,” said an expert.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Satanica]

I'm sure it doesn't help that our government has been using the military as their attack dog for various administrations' pet military projects for years. I would imagine anyone joining would have protecting our homeland in mind; not being used to fulfill a long term and wide ranging political agenda like what happened when we invaded Iraq and what could happen in Ukraine where they're toying on the edge of nuclear war.

 

[VLGRDSPLY]

wonder if this is why in the latest bill HR4350 (National Defence Authorization) it added in that at 18 all females, as well as males have to now sign up to be drafted?!?

There is a lot more in there - BUT Congress just passed the bill - and the draft info is in there!!!

 

[Satanica]

At the rate they're going, we won't notice much of a difference when China takes over.

 

[Metalfan]

Instead of combat there will be protesting and finger pointing.

 

[thuumpr]

wonder if this is why in the latest bill HR4350 (National Defence Authorization) it added in that at 18 all females, as well as males have to now sign up to be drafted?!?

There is a lot more in there - BUT Congress just passed the bill - and the draft info is in there!!!

I'm wondering whether they make the distinctions 'granular'.

Guessing everyone registers because if we draft, there will be so many 'woke' individuals that will ignore 'the call for duty' to play "Call Of Duty".

 

[cubby]

I don't necessarily see the draft as bad, the military might could instill some values and discipline into some young folks who sorely need it these days.

 

[Satanica]

Yes, but, we don't want our young people's lives wasted in these proxy wars that have little to nothing to do with protecting America. That's why we fought so hard back in the day to end the draft. They took everyone for VietNam. My family doctor had to go. My dad's SeaBee unit was called up, although the older men could opt out which my dad did; his friend went. I can't recall if he made it back in one piece.

Perhaps a compromise would be requiring some sort of ROTC in high school so they can get a taste of it, so to speak, without the long commitment.

In the end, like all of our proxy wars, VietNam accomplished nothing. We were successful at ending the draft though, and I would be worried about it's return. If we were facing these existential threats in reality, there would be no shortage of people joining the military to fight them off but that's not the case. And, now, it might be difficult to convince people that there IS a threat directly to the US, because we've been lied consistently for so long. Even the news has now been weaponized which makes it a challenge to determine what is the truth.