Recruitment among the nation's branches of the military is in the lowest levels due to COVID, woke politicians, and an anti-military mindset keeping young people from joining. The scandal of President Biden's administration in Afghanistan will also be in the mind of people who are thinking of joining the military as well as those who wonder, “if the President won't stand behind the military, who will?”
The Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve in the beginning of July removed 57,000 troops from their duty and cut their benefits and pay. It is no surprise people do not want to be a part of the army.
“We are on the cusp of a military recruiting crisis,” Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) told Politico, citing Covid, obesity among would-be recruits, competition from the healthy civilian labor market, and an overall low interest in serving. “When Republicans take control of Congress in a few months,” he added, “averting the recruiting crisis will be a top priority of the Military Personnel Subcommittee.” Gallagher is the top Republican on the House Armed Services’ subpanel.
Politico reports it is “widely considered the worst recruiting environment since the end of the Vietnam War.” Here are the figures:
The Army has reached 66 percent of its goal for the fiscal year ending in September, and the Navy is at 89 percent, according to data compiled from October 2021 to May 2022. Even with rates of 100 percent for the Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force, that leaves the department [of Defense] with a total rate of just 85 percent.
Air Force Gen. Paul J. Selva said in a 2018 speech that “only 1 percent of our population today will ever wear the uniform of this nation in any of its incarnations—soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, active, Guard or Reserve.” We ask a great deal of very few in this country. If the number of recruits continues to decline, we're going to be really in danger.
Many reports tell about the service's desperate efforts to get more people to join. The Minnesota National Guard placed a $77,000 ad within an LGBTQ magazine and the Army considered the possibility of eliminating its requirement that all enlistees possess a high school diploma or GED before rethinking the idea. Military.com on Tuesday reported the way in which the Army is offering those who do not attain the initial body fat or academic standards another chance to succeed by the launch of two pilot programs to aid them in losing weight and/or increase their scores on aptitude tests.
We've also reported on the way the absurdity being propagated by military officials doesn't go over well with soldiers or potential soldiers. The Army will reportedly likely force women soldiers to shower with males who identify as females and the Navy is reportedly allowing sailors to choose which locker room is best suited to their gender. There's also a lot of emphasis on race:
“Woke ideology being instituted throughout our military is a grave threat to our national security. When I was a soldier, I was taught to protect and defend the county I love—not that America is racist. This ideology has no place in our Armed Forces.”
Authors Jeff Groom in Spectator World:
Imagine you are an eighteen-year-old, white, Christian male in Georgia with a family history of military service. As you progressed through your teen years, you watched Confederate statues being torn down and military bases being renamed, endless media and elitist demonization of your culture as racist and deplorable and backwards, and military and civilian leadership that thinks diversity and inclusion(i.e. fewer white men) is best thing since sliced bread. Would you volunteer? Identity politics works both ways. Trash my tribe and I won’t associate with you, let alone risk my life. It shouldn’t be a shock, then, that those expressing a “great deal of trust and confidence in the military” dropped from 70 percent in 2018 to 45 percent today. (Emphasis mine.)
Military leaders are trying various things to improve the situation, however there is no sign of success. It's a troubling situation, particularly considering the fact that relations with China and Russia are not favorable right now. The best way to deal with it is to avoid the woke agenda.
