What do you think is causing the military Recruitment problems?

[Anonymous]

Too few people want to sign up to fight Modern wars.

The country is getting too hold with too few young people to meet military’s goals.

The whole economy is having a labor shortage and the military despite good entry level pay can't compete with private sector labor needs.

American kids are suddently too fat and poorly educated.

A total of 35 votes were cast: 10 girls and 25 guys. See detailed results

[Sixgunsound]

Those are contributing factors, but the largest difficulty with recruitment is young people today are watching their older brothers and sisters in arms get shit on for the privilege of serving their country and keeping it free. This comes in many forms. As an example, the day I graduated Boot Camp and went to the Navy pier in Chicago, I was heckled by protesters. Many veterans aren’t getting mental health services or even basic medical care that they are watching people who are more likely to vote Democrat show up and get for free. US service members sign a contract that they are willing to die to defend the bodily autonomy of ALL citizens, but they don’t get that right for themselves. The financial benefits post-service are not keeping up with inflation, and many blue states are giving away free college tuition to anyone, mocking their sacrifices. It now pays better in the US to be a full time government dependent welfare leech than it does to work, why would anyone voluntarily risk life or limb to sleep in mud puddles and get shot at or blown up when you can sit on your ass and get high and get paid better and still go to college and get real estate subsidies for doing nothing? We are having the same problem Rome had near the end, young men are realizing that the military juice isn’t worth the squeeze and opting out of military service. And I haven’t even started on the woke recruiting commercials trying to draw in a largely Christian conservative target recruitment demographic.

[Lionman95]

I think it´s plainly the development of a comfort zone industry that shows its consequences now. Like all those sodas, all those burgers and fries have a high amount of sugar in them that make you gain weight.

It´s the consequence of creating a comforting world where kids can play video games, eat pizza and fast food. It´s the consequence of not eating healthy and being lazy.

[Asker]

That has been going on for 30 years now, If that is the only problem then the military just can spend more money getting theses kids into shape.

It seems quite likely there are other issues, such as military depression, and the private sector competition.
If it is competition then you would expect the military to do better in the National guard and the reserve.

If it is demographics then you would expect the entire economy to be under a labor shortage.

[Lionman95]

Interesting so has it been going down for several years now or just since the last two years or so? Because I would specify "comfort zone" a bit more. I heard the other day in a podcast that the testosterone level of guys has been decreasing on average by 1% since 1980s. Generally I would say that a job where you risk your life and health isn´t appealing to the modern generation, environmental problems and diversity are more interesting and seem to be more urgent to the young than fighting some enemies in the Middle-East or elsewhere.
Besides that "the comfort zone" is not only the lifestyle of many young it´s also the mindset. So there is less discipline and interest to work hard on an on-going day to day basis I would say.

[Smoke-n-Growls]

Americans are realizing they don't want to fight in a rich person's war. Which is very good for them.

America doesn't have a military recruitment problem. It has a war addiction.

[Sixgunsound]

When Austria or Germany or Russia start encroaching on your interests again I have a pretty good idea whom Parliament is going to call for reinforcements.

[Curmudgeon]

Sadly, this is now a good point. At least in the past the USA elite ostensibly wanted what was best for the USA too - "what is good for General Motors is good for America" , went one slogan. But now? The elites at Davos or the Bildeberg Hotel or wherever else they meet have gone global, and they even seem to have disdain for what was onve called "Middle America".

[Snsl153]

People are reluctant to join the armed forces? GOOD! No more wars!

[JamesDiaz11]

None of the above.

The reason is that people don't feel sufficient levels of patriotism to get them to join. Traditionally, men from the suburbs and rural areas would make up the brunt of the US military- we're the only ones with traditional values, and are brave enough to stand up for them.

But in this rainbow cesspool, where white people are shamed for existing, gays are championed as heroes, and our leaders can't even define what is a woman, who thinks we would fight for this? Simultaneously, the blacks, gays, "empowered women," and shemales aren't signing up to fit this need.

Military pay is trash by the way- 4 years USMC (two tours in Iraq)

[RationalMale]

1. The army isn't keeping us free--they're just fighting the wars of the moment for the political class. And that isn't even working out--go look at the footage of the US Army fleeing Afganistan.

2. The USA army just booted like 60k people for refusing the coof shots.

3. Why join the army and get screamed at for low wages when literally gas stations are paying $19.23 an hour these days?

4. The USA isn't one nation. It's multiple nations hating each other's guts. Hell, Nick Cannon was making racist comments that non black people are less human, and he's still famous and not even cancelled.

[Curmudgeon]

Well, why should "Deplorables" (from where the recruits overwhelmingly come) fight for a system that increasingly hates them?

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/03/why_should_deplorables_fight_for_those_who_hate_them.html

[Sixgunsound]

We are at the point in Roman history where they turned around and hired the “barbarians” they had been abusing for centuries to now defend the empire because the young men of the empire finally realized that it’s not worth fighting it’s wars anymore.

[Curmudgeon]

@Sixgunsound maybe we are following the Roman Empire after all:
www.us-immigration.com/.../

[Sixgunsound]

We are already removing any incentive that our young men have to fight for their homeland, we’re already debating the currency, as you point out or giving away citizenship to just about anybody in order to fill the ranks of soldiers and taxpayers, and we’ve been implementing bread and circus programs for decades. Let’s pray that we don’t start seeing barracks emperors, right @Exterminatore

[Sixgunsound]

Debasing the currency. We even have a new religion emerging called wokeism that is destroying the old religion of Christianity.

[Exterminatore]

@six

Indeed. It’s the woke bs that’s causing low enlistments and mandatory Covid vaccines.

[Exterminatore]

@six

And you are quite right, Woke is a religion.

[Sixgunsound]

@Exterminatore you’re better with Roman history than I can imagine anyone else is here, how did that work out for them?

[Exterminatore]

There were many reasons the empire collapsed.

The Roman Empire technically did not end until 1453 with the fall of the Byzantine. The Byzantine Empire was 1/2 of the Roman Empire.

However we typically think more of the western part of the Empire as being the Roman Empire.

It fell due to many factors, political corruption and overtaxation were probably the leading factors.

We see both of these present in America.

[Sixgunsound]

@Exterminatore concentration of poverty, dilution of citizenship, bread and circuses, etc.

[Sixgunsound]

The military industrial complex making more and more of the war fighting decisions with fewer and fewer troops certainly didn’t help matters. Where does that sound familiar from?

[Exterminatore]

Hmmmmm…. I just can’t think of a connection. Lol.

Those were also factors.

[Avicenna]

This is the right explanation. I’ve also been told by people who served within the past decade that a lot of people at the E-7 and E-8 ranks who were initially recruited during the Bush years when they took anyone are not as good as people at those ranks were in years past.

[Anonymous]

David Goggins was dumb and 300lbs. He lost the weight in 3 months and also had the study the book, 18 months in advanced so he could memorize the whole book because of his learning disability. He barely pass the test and then had to go through 3 hell weeks (the most in history) just to finally become a seal. And I didn't even mention the mental part of his story.

If someone wants to do it... They can do it. The problem is people dont wanna do it. Especially with internet nowadays you know you can be anything so why would anyone choose to go put there life in danger unless that was their dream?

[did_he_just]

How about we have politicians who will put soldiers in harm's way to help people in some fucked up placed. Which in theory is good and noble and arguably what the military is for (if you're talking about offensives). But when they are done fighting someone else's fight, that politicians voted for and they are faced with the reality that all of the 'support our troops' bumper stickers are hollow and they're suffering from ptsd and trying to get mental health services or medical care from a swamped and outdated VA. People have been exposing the hypocrisy of the stand for the flag fucktards who vote people into office that don't give a fuck about soldiers, but hide behind that bumper sticker having no earthly clue what sacrifice is. People see that shit. Why would you expect people to sign up for that?

[Curmudgeon]

Spot on about the politicians, but the most ardent posters of the "support our troops" stickers *were* the people with sons, husbands, or other relatives and loved ones over there. It takes one to know one...

[Adam1978]

It's a good thing, people shouldn't support wars, they will line up if the country needs a defense. But if all countries military shrink, it makes it impossible to start aggressive wars. Why would we want to have some person to have the right to send us to the death, for a cause we don't believe in or support? US really needs to shrink their military budget and use it for things that actually help its citizens instead such as free healthcare and education.

[Sixgunsound]

Like Canada’s socialized healthcare that Stefan Molyneux had to flee to the barbaric United States to be seen several months earlier than he could be seen in Canada for life threatening cancer? Or the UK system that a doctor who goes by the pen name Theodore Dalrymple made a second career out of describing its inefficiencies and overall inadequate ability to meet citizens needs, let alone foreign freeloaders? Or the Australian system which a pen pal described to me as chronically overworked, understaffed, and those that are there are frequently under qualified as both medical providers and caring human beings? How are the death panels treating your older relatives?

[Sixgunsound]

Or for that matter where has most of the worlds medical innovation and medical technology come from? Might it be a capitalist system where there are costs for failure and only the best ideas win?

[Curmudgeon]

Here's a modest proposal: the military budget goes down and money goes into infrastructure repair and sometimes new infrastructure. People with those better paying infrastructure jobs (and they do pay much better) could buy better medical care and education. (Yes, the USA does have free healthcare and education, but it is noticeably not as good).

[Adam1978]

Your points has no value, you have the most expensive and inefficient system of all. And you have doctors that prescribe medecine for profit to people who doesn't need it, you have doctors who encourage transgender because they earn their living on it. So your points falls empty because your system is worse even when you find a few odd cases.

[Curmudgeon]

@Adam1978 "And you have doctors that prescribe medicine for profit to people who doesn't need it," - but is that not happening widespread in other Western Countries too? You are correct it is awful, but that cultural decay is far beyond the how much private sector vs. public sector economic spheres debate.

[Moose304]

It's not only recruitment. It's also retention problems as well. I understand that for the first time in a while the US Army is allowing none HS grads to enter. I spoke to a good friend that is now retired who spent almost 2 years commanding a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser based out of Norfolk. He told me last he heard most Navy ships leave for deployment with anywhere from 87% to 90% of their billets filled. A bad situation that is not getting better anytime soon!

[KostasKouvalis]

I voted A. I think especially after the fiasco in Afghanistan, people are getting smart and realizing it's not worth signing up to fight other people's wars.

As for your last option, you do realize that mainly poorly educated kids enlist, right?

[Sixgunsound]

So are all the highly educated recruitment marketing specialists just that dumb/incompetent, or do they really think that poor white Christian males (you know, the disposable deplorables that don’t matter until suddenly they really really matter) want to sign up for an army that is looking for a less physically strong warfighter who grew up having two mommies and has a fairly good chance of destroying unit cohesion, filing charges against their toxic masculinity, or getting pregnant right before deployment so the unit is down a member they were depending on? I mean if that’s your thing whatever but the marketing could use a tuneup is all I’m saying.

[Sixgunsound]

And before anybody gives me any crap about the getting pregnant thing, I can tell you from personal experience living in base housing that every front desk in every single housing unit except for the contractor who ‘ran’ the housing units on a base with over 100,000 enlisted alone was staffed by a female enlisted person who got pregnant to get out of deployment. All the contractor did was provide an office staff and charge the navy billions for buildings that Seabees fixed enlisted people cleaned for inspections and enlisted women staffed.

[CallmeTheKnight]

Social media, Vets, and the service men & women who who actually tell you what's going on. Everyone can see how life is inside the base and on deployment. Usually when the rough parts are spoke about and shown, it's gonna discourage a lot of people to change their minds to enlist

[John_Doesnt]

Nobody wants to sign up to fight for an oil company's war anymore. Back when the US was involved in actual wars like World War 2 most people were happy to sign up because they were fighting for a just cause. But now the US is just the oil police and many times end up destroying third world countries.

Also, we've pretty much lost almost every war since WW2.

[exitseven]

I pick D because I know for a fact that there are a lot of kids the military won't take because they are too poorly educated and cannot perform the easiest of physical tasks. Ot else they are drug addicts or have a criminal record.

[Asker]

Not a new problem, the army actually met its recruitment goals in 2019

[exitseven]

Trump was president then. Coincidence?

[BeMuse]

Seems the government wants to recruit the gays right now and force them to take experimental vaccines that kill them.

[Googlemyahoo]

Most of your population would rather goto war over gender issues then geo political conflict. Blue haired overweight transformers windmill slapping won’t stop the chinese when they come. Guess where they’ll all end up.

[jshm2]

Low population, and fewer people willing to kill for money.

Especially when there are plenty of less dangerous, and more pleasing, occupations.

[Guy13]

Where are the Feminist now…at the Sofitel earring chocolates with champagne in bed while their b-tches are hating men in the street?

[msc545]

People that refuse to enter the military often feel this way after learning that our wars are not fought for "freedom" or anything like that - they are fought to enrich large corporations and rich individuals.

[YHL6965]

Because the government keep treating soldier like disposable units and send them to die in money fueled and money oriented war. In other words, soldiers are mistreated and sent to die for nothing meaningful.

[ArtemisSilver]

Might have something to do with giving an entire generation of soldiers cancer with burn pits in the desert and then not funding their healthcare after the fact.

[KlinkyCoder]

A combination of different reasons. It isn't helping that all our institutions have gone "woke" and that people are turned off by even supporting them.

[Subarugirl]

I dont know maybe is has something to do with rampant sexual assault, and not wanting to fight in a cause they dont believe in.

[HighlyQuestionable]

Apathy.

Hardly anyone believes in fighting for a cause in this day and age.

So many seem to be happily stuck in a rut.

[TroyDT]

Idiot politicians who start unnecessary wars

[MrTaboo]

Wokeness and mandatory Vax.

Myself and 40,000 had to get out due to the Vax.

[Libertycityguy]

No wants to end up in every hot spot on the planet.

[Savantine]

ummmm... where isn't a hot spot?

[BLP11520]

Afghanistan screw up for starters. Biden worthless , woke military 🤡🤡🤡

[OddBeMe]

Military is a socialist jobs program for people with no skills.

[Curmudgeon]

However, the people who sign up for *that* "jobs program" have to ork hard and take a lot of abuse for it, and even pay with their lives for it sometimes. Only to be sneered at by the likes of you. Once again: why should "the Deplorables" sign up for a system that now hates them?

[Curmudgeon]

Work hard, ugh typos and small cellphone keyboards.

[OddBeMe]

@Curmudgeon mmm…free sports games, no interest home loans, GI bill…doesnt sound like the military guys are getting shit on. And I certainly wouldn't presume to spit on a person serving.

But my comment still stands. The military is a bloated socialist jobs progrsm snd easy pork barrel excuse for lawmakers.

[Curmudgeon]

You wouldn't last ten minutes in basic. The soldiers have to earn it.

[OddBeMe]

@Curmudgeon sure but again…am I wrong?

[Avicenna]

"No interest" home loans is inaccurate- you have to pay a VA funding fee and a lot of sellers don't want to sell to people with government-backed loans because it's a slower process.

"People with no skills" is also very inaccurate (although how many skills do you expect the youngest recruits to have at age 18?). Many of the most skilled people I've ever met I met were in the military, including one guy (a native-born American) who spoke eight languages fluently.

And the benefits are justified since the work is not easy.

[OddBeMe]

@Avicenna didn't say after they served. Before they sign up…lots have few other options. And honestly, im not that against it. Just call it what it is. Socialist jobs program.

[Avicenna]

Well, although our military isn't used to protect our own borders as much as it should be doesn't mean that it doesn't have a needed purpose. And i t doesn't mean that servicemembers don't bring talents and skills with them when they enter- I did technical training with a large number of people who already had bachelor's degrees, one had an MS in Electrical Engineering, another had two master's degrees.

If it were a "Socialist jobs program", everyone would be able to join, or at least much larger numbers.

I have a hard time believing you don't know any veterans since you're in Texas.

[OddBeMe]

@Avicenna everyone can join. Sure they may let people go. But I actually looked this up it takes a lot to be dismissed from boot camp.

[Avicenna]

You know, Odd, I think you ought to be put on a bus to New York City and live there.

Not everyone can join the military- you have to score high enough on the ASVAB, pass a thorough medical exam and a background check. There are waivers for some things, but you have to go through that process as well.

Not many people flunk out of boot camp because there is a screening process before enlistment.

[OddBeMe]

@Avicenna fair enough. I'll bow to your experience. I just read about the recruiting for the army and its a bit dark...

[Avicenna]

I encourage my male relatives to serve. It helps if you have some advice from veterans.

[OddBeMe]

@Avicenna i agree. It helped my brother in law.

[Avicenna]

There you go. You can’t throw a rock in Texas without hitting a veteran.

[OddBeMe]

@Avicenna i never said it was bad, dude! I just said its socialist. Sounds like your putting some bias on it.

[Savantine]

@Curmudgeon by murdering some one in a foreign country? tf?

[Curmudgeon]

@Savantine I didn't say what they were doing was always right. But I am explaining motivations of those who join up, and no, they aren't murderous at all. They are sadly all too understandable.

[EnglishEuropean]

They stopped drafting kids straight out of college.

[Curmudgeon]

Well, that has been true for 50 years, since 1972, and even from 1969 on it was unlucky lottery numbers. So why now?

[EnglishEuropean]

@Curmudgeon I don't know. I can't think of any single reason why anyone would join.

[Curmudgeon]

Given what has happened in the government lately, I can't either. Maybe we can all agree on something now! 🤣

[Savantine]

WTFC lol seriously though, Mercenary work isn't worth a damn or lasting thing.

[Anonymous]

The number of Americans killed in wars over the last few decades is remarkably low, probably around 5,000 (Iraq plus Afghanistan).

[RiseofArtemis]

Its Emma and her two moms who destroyed it.

[DarkWinterNights]

All of the above and then some.

[joeldalton]

Who wants to be lectured on pronoun use?

[Sixgunsound]

It’s not just pronoun use, it’s service culture it’s masculinity in general, it’s the fact that people are getting the same or better benefits without having served in most blue states, and it’s the sheer amount of disrespect and ungrateful nation has for people who keep the hordes at bay.

[Jennz6]

Labor problems today

[berwise13]

My God this generation ahhhh

[Sixgunsound]

If Uncle Sam calls for a few good men some green haired climate activist with a nose ring who doesn’t recognize what they see when they look down in the shower would probably call it a hate crime🤣🤣🤣

[berwise13]

Amen Semper fi

[Sixgunsound]

Run silent run deep!

[ASHELY14000]

Experience