AMAC Exclusive – By Andrew Abbott
2022 marked one of the worst years for military recruiting since the Vietnam War. As American adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran grow more aggressive, military leaders are now turning to new incentive programs to try to fill their ranks – leading to concerns that lower standards could affect readiness.
The Army saw the worst recruiting shortfall in 2022, coming up 25% short of its goal – amounting to about 15,000 new soldiers. While the Pentagon has stressed that its current 465,000 troop count is enough to meet current mission demands, there is a significant danger to operational capacity moving forward if last year’s struggles are not reversed.
The Marine Corps, meanwhile, technically met its recruiting marks for 2022, but only after reducing its goals following a decade of missed targets. While the Navy also met its active duty enlisted recruitment goals last year, it only did so by increasing the number of recruits it accepted from the lowest aptitude percentile on the military’s qualification test, and also missed target numbers for active duty and reserve officers.
The Air Force also missed its goals for officers, and the Air National Guard and Reserve fell thousands of troops short. The Coast Guard saw its fourth straight year of missing its recruitment goals in 2022, a span where the branch has fallen an average of 20% short.
Amid these alarming recruitment failures and as some top generals are warning about a potential conflict with China on the horizon, recruiters are looking for any way to incentivize young people to sign up.
The Army has been the most active of the five branches so far in 2023 in implementing a renewed push for recruits. One of the simplest and most popular changes is the reintroduction of “Be All You Can Be” as the Army’s slogan. The widely beloved and popular advertising campaign was retired in January 2001. To this day, many consider it the signature Army motto, and its reintroduction was met with praise.
Along with the rhetorical changes came a series of financial and logistical incentives. Soldiers can now select their duty station right out of basic training. Army officials hope permitting junior enlisted service members to be stationed closer to their hometowns will ease their transition into service.
Recruits can also receive a guaranteed promotion if they convince a friend to enlist in the military. For doing so, they will be rewarded with a “recruiting ribbon.” Critics are concerned that such awards denigrate the integrity of other service medals, but the award is still moving forward.
Recruits are also being offered generous cash benefits for signing up, following similar moves by other branches. The Air Force offered more than $22 million in enlistment incentive bonuses in 2022. Army recruits can now earn up to $50,000 when they join.
Top Army brass insists these changes are being implemented to ensure recruitment standards do not need to be relaxed for new soldiers. Army Chief of Staff General James McConville stated in a recent interview, “We don’t want to lower standards. We think that quality is more important than quantity.”
Despite these assurances, the Army has already relaxed standards in several significant ways. Late last year, the Department of Defense allowed 700 recruits with behavioral disorders, specifically ADHD, to enlist without a waiver. If these recruits perform well in service, the DOD will likely expand these relaxed standards to even more psychological disorders. With over 77% of American youth ineligible for service, the measure is seen by many as a last resort.
Military leadership is hopeful that these changes will address the recruiting shortfall. Yet all of these measures seemingly fail to address the root issues that have created the crisis in the first place. A growing obesity and mental health epidemic among young people is creating a perpetually smaller applicant pool. Persistent concerns about “wokeness” in the military are also driving many would-be recruits away. And an insidious effort by the radical left to use the education system and other cultural institutions to inspire hatred for America rather than patriotism has made the prospect of military service less appealing to many young people.
None of these challenges are insurmountable, and the United States military has proven time and again that it can overcome great obstacles. But that doesn’t negate the need for urgent action, and for both political and military leaders to recognize the severity of the problem at hand.
Andrew Abbott is the pen name of a writer and public affairs consultant with over a decade of experience in DC at the intersection of politics and culture.
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They need to raise the age limit for first time enlistees to 50
There’s a lot of us older guys who want to serve our country but are being turned away by the 100’s
The problem with the military “trades” training is that it is NOT recognized on civvy street! As an electrician’s mate, TQ5, the apprenticeship board may NOT donate any hours toward a journeymans license! Military is a waste of time, unless you can’t find ANY kind of work on civvy street, then you are pretty useless as Government Issue, anyway!
That depends what state you live in. Military friendly states have passed laws to accept military job certifications in equivalent civilian fields. Individuals coming out of the military are often far more reliable, mentally mature and disciplined than their civilian equivalents. They show up to work on time and don’t back-talk supervisors. They tend to be better problem solvers and get along well with co-workers.
The Left and Joe Biden have made a mockery of our military. The Woke Secretary of Defense is a JOKE. The head of the Joint Chiefs is an EMBARRASSMENT and a disgrace to his uniform. This woke nonsense in the military repels warriors. It is disgusting.
Even during the Carter Admin. when I served, the overriding principle was war fighting. Combat readiness was paramount, which was challenging because of Carter’s military budget cuts. But I will say the ” —— fully supports the Navy’s Affirmative Action Program” on our evals was the seed that grew into the woke crap we see in todays military.
This is not intended to be an insult to my Army brothers in arms on this site, but as a career Marine I can tell you a key reason we succeeded in the recruiting area relative to the Army is because the Corps focused recruiting efforts on selling the Marine Corps, whereas the Army focused on selling programs. Given the target demographic, pride of affiliating with an organization bigger than oneself will always exceed the attempted sale of bells and whistles.
With a dementia plagued Biden as Commander in Chief, the cackling ninny Harris as second in command, and the tactical moron Milley as head of the Joint Chiefs, I find it hard to understand why they are having such problems. With the military high command (most of them probably are high) advocating for the Uniform of the Day to be Pink Tutus and Ballot Slippers and the Close Combat gear being kneepads, bibs and mouthwash. Who wouldn’t want to serve?
Even as a two tour, disabled Vietnam Veteran, I warn any young people asking my opinion about enlisting, “not for the next two years!!
If we were in a “war” with “china” Milley would call and give them a heads up before we attack. War with China must be a propaganda joke. This administration IS China.
But our hair and nails look GREAT! China MUST be shaking in their boots.
‘We don’t want to lower standards’? How much of a lower standard could you have as Bozo Joe as the commander in chief?
I used to be proud of America’s military forces. They were the best in the world! Leftists have deliberately destroyed them, because they want the US too weak to withstand their globalist tyranny.
So… the U.S. Military Grows Desperate for Troops and Biden wants to payoff College Debt. Idea… How about if you want your College Debt paid off join the Military, we’ll happily pay off 5% of your debt. for each year of Military Service!
The lack of recruiting tells us that US leadership stinks. No decent patriot wants to take orders from trannies, and other woke leaders.
Bad recruitment? Guess they shouldn’t have ADSEP’d all those active duty for refusing to take a sham vaccine, huh?
This is what our WOKE. Military can expect forever. Real men don’t want to be forced to be woke.
real men want real men comrades.
I bet China isn’t in this situation where 77% of its youth are unfit for military service. We didn’t get to this point overnight. Leftist influence in the schools, bad parents, drugs, misplaced priorities, politicians looking to line their pockets with lobbyists money instead of doing the right thing and so many more bad policies heaped on other bad policies.
If we were following the constitution that the founding fathers gave us, we would have an armed force less than half the size of the current one.
Maybe the military wants people who don’t think for themselves, just follow orders, so when told to fire at their own countrymen, they won’t question it. Just thinking.
Stop giving the covid shot and re integrate those they kicked out!!! Give them back pay too!
I’m a Navy retiree. The downward spiral of the Navy is just sad.
I wouldn’t let my child or grand child join the WOKE Military no matter what they offered…The quality of recruits will be the end of us all…and I spent 21 years in the Navy
Being a member of the military entails giving up basic rights and perhaps being killed or seriously injured. This duty should not be restricted to: “volunteers,” because the whole society depends the
military defending society from the likes of terrorists, Russia, the PRC, North Korea, and Iran.
Hence the U.S. should adopt the Israeli model of conscription. With a few relatively rare exceptions,
everybody in Israel does military service.
The result is evident. Israel has the highest quality defense force in the world and nearly everyone in Israel society contributes to the military. It is fair and it weeds out those who are too cowardly or unpatriotic to serve their country.
Thus, America must adopt the Israel military model now.
Enslaving the people and giving the government even more power over them is a really great answer.
Slaves don’t get paid. Nice try; no cigar.
Wage slaves get paid.
Another made up grievance.
requiring government woke and unisex requirements is chasing away any quality we had a chance to get. military requires the ability to excel during stress not opting for hurt feelings and time out.
You will not teach my son your military bigotry towards white people nor will he be a subject of homosexual rape. That is all.
Conscription is forcing someone to join an organization by gunpoint, work in a dangerous job where they have no say where they go, and then tell them they must kill someone they have no personal grievance against. Sounds like slavery to me. Who benefits because it sure isn’t the person conscripted?
How about this pull back all those troops from the 700 bases overseas. Then we will have a surplus of military strength to protect the US. Have the United states protect only ships flying american flags and stop trying to start wars with nuclear nations. The United States had 10,000 soldiers in the 1930s so this idea that we need this massive bloated military whose primary purpose is to start wars to protect the petrodollar is stupid.
Maybe if the politicians actually cared about their citizens and less about Europe and the middle east then if the US is invaded then you will find plenty of people willing to defend it. Until then killing innocent civilians 4000+ miles away so raytheon’s stock price can go up is not worth it.
by the way many slaves were paid and many bought themselves out of slavery.