Future of all-volunteer Army in peril as Gen Z shuns military service

The U.S. Army feels a slight panic.

Last year, the largest branch of U.S. Military failed to recruit 15,000 soldiers. This year promises to be even more difficult.

SPACE FORCE RECRUITMENT WORKING ‘VERY WELL’ ABOVE OTHER BRANCHES’ STRUGGLES

Enter: “Be All You Can Be,” The iconic slogan of the 1980s and 1990s has been rebranded to appeal to a new generation. “‘Be All You Can Be’ is a phrase that has inspired many generations of soldiers, and its promise still rings true today,” At the rollout, Army Chief Of Staff Gen. James McConville spoke out. “This is the message for the moment and for the future.”

It may sound a bit desperate, but the Army is shrinking. The Army applied for funding last year to support 473,000 active-duty soldiers, but was only able to fund 452,000. The Army is currently struggling to maintain this force level. This is because it’s impossible to support the current recruitment climate. However, to stem the shrinkage, the service will need to sign up 65,000 more enlistees.

While the Army may be the symbol of recruitment woes, it is not the only one that faces a historical challenge.

“This is something that we see happening across the entire Department of Defense to all of the services,” Gabe Camarillo was the Army’s undersecretary. “It did not take one year to get into this situation. It’ll take several years to get us out of it.”

“Most of the trends that have created the present recruiting crisis will not change anytime soon, and if left unaddressed, they could soon threaten the ability of the all-volunteer force to protect the nation,” Nora Bensahel and retired Army Lt. General David Barno, who were visiting professors of studies at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, wrote the following. Barno and Bensahel believe that the military could find itself in a situation where it is not possible to take immediate action. “continuing to involuntarily shrink” And “may soon be too small to address the growing security challenges facing the United States.”

There are obvious reasons that today’s youth aren’t attracted to military service. For example, the relatively low pay and ease of finding work in today’s highly-competitive labor market. However, the problem is not that there are fewer high school students who want to join military service. It is because fewer people are in good enough physical and mental condition to enlist.

“Polling shows that propensity for military service is at 9%, the lowest in 15 years, and the qualification rate for military service among 17- to 24-year-olds has decreased from 29% to 23%,” Sgt. Major of Army Michael Grinston testified during a hearing at the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee.

“I want to begin with [the] obvious question,” – Jim Banks, R-IN) “50th anniversary of an all-volunteer force, yet we are met with a recruitment crisis that we’ve never seen before … What is the biggest obstacle to recruitment of the enlisted forces?”

“As we surveyed our future candidates for the United States Army, we ask them this very question,” Grinston, “And we found that the No. 1 barrier for those that we surveyed was they [believed it] would be putting their life on hold.”

“They don’t know about our Army,” Grinston noted that 83% are aware of military life because of a parent, grandparent or other close relative who has served in uniform. This is only a small percentage of society.

“We don’t want the Army to be a family business. We want it to be an American business,” Grinston stated.

Army’s recruitment campaign emphasizes that military service is more than a job. “If you join the Army, you have an opportunity to get funds to go to college while you serve,” Camarillo said. “You have an opportunity to learn skills in high-end, very technical skill sets, to be either a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, software developer. You can even be a veterinarian.”

Camarillo acknowledged that it is difficult to sell. “We do not think that the recruiting challenge will go away overnight,” He stated. “We’re pulling every lever we can at our disposal to make sure that we’re addressing it.”

Services are using many carrots to attract new recruits and keep current troops from departing. These include bonuses, choice of station, and waivers to recruits who in the past would have been exempted for low marijuana use. Republicans repeatedly referred to the fact that they believe the U.S. army has become too politicized and disengaged from its core warfighting functions as a major reason for the decline in recruitment during the hearing before the House Subcommittee. “woke ideology.”

“When I talk to people and say, ‘Well, why aren’t you looking to join the military?’ A lot of them say, ‘Well, the military has been over-politicized. Well, the military has gone woke,'” Rep. Cory Mills, a Republican from Florida, is an Army combat veteran who served both in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“I can remember when I would go into the recruitment station, I wanted to see the Ranger video where they’re kicking doors, jumping out of planes, and doing really cool stuff,” Mills said. “Now, all of a sudden, it’s about how do we address our fellow soldier, airman, and what pronouns we’re utilizing.”

A panel of senior enlisted officers from all services countered, insisting that if there was anything that was hindering recruitment, it was the constant labeling the military as too awake, which they claimed fuels a perception problem. “Sir, I would offer the Air Force does not have pronoun training,” Chief Master Sgt. JoAnne bass, Air Force. “Where we could use your help is by sharing that message that your services are not focused on any of that such training more than we are on warfighting.”

“We’ve maintained our standards,” Grinston also added. “When I looked at it, there’s one hour of equal opportunity training and basic training, and 92 hours of rifle marksmanship training.”

The constant drumbeat of negative headlines, whether it’s the exaggeration or overstatement of white supremacists within the ranks, is one of many headwinds that recruiters face. “Negative depiction and conversation about our service members in the media, social media, pop culture have all become unbalanced, inaccurate, and, quite frankly, they are unjust,” Sgt. Maj. of Marine Corps Troy Black. “We must challenge the misconceptions.”

“Whether that’s a national leader, it’s in media, pop culture, in social media, it’s irrelevant,” Chief Master Sgt. Roger Towberman of the Space Force was also added. “It’s always something negative. Until we reverse that, until we reverse that, it doesn’t matter how qualified someone is.”

Rep. Mike Waltz (R. FL), a former Army Green Beret, brought to the record a Heritage Foundation poll which found 68% of active duty troops had witnessed politicalization in the military. A similar percentage stated it would negatively affect their advice for their children about joining the army. Grinston claimed that this is the kind of publicity that can be counterproductive.

“I think even by your comments, are we politicizing the military? It almost feels like we’re politicizing the military,” He told Waltz. “We support and defend the nation and the constitution of everybody … that’s what good soldiers do.”

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Barno and Bensahel, who were both former commanders of U.S. forces fighting in Afghanistan, wrote that it was time for a change in rhetoric. “Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are publicly criticizing the U.S. military in ways that appeal to their partisan supporters, which ends up harming the very institution that they claim to be deeply concerned about,” They wrote. “Painting the entire U.S. military as either woke or extremist undermines public support for the institution and the people in uniform.”

Jamie McIntyre, the Washington Examiner Senior writer on national security and defense. His morning newsletter Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, is free and available by email subscription at dailyondefense.com.