For Memorial Day, let’s get real about the recruitment crisis
New report finds that even when kids enlist, the military is not reacting effectively to rash of suicides, sexual assault, and drug abuse.
MAY 29, 2023
Written by
Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
As one retired general is quoted as saying, the “(All-Volunteer Force) is facing its most serious crisis since Nixon created it.”
Since Nixon ended the draft after the disastrous Vietnam war and the Army was in shambles trying to get young men to enlist, this is a damning insight. But it may not be far off the mark, as the Army experienced a shortfall of 25 percent in enlistments in the last fiscal year, and the other forces — Marines, Navy and Air Force — barely made their quotas. By all reports, it’s supposed to be worse this year.
Why? Take your pick. Conservative Republicans like Ron DeSantis, an Iraq War veteran, are blaming the “woke” programs that they say detract from readiness and divide the force. Others say American kids are too obese, and fewer qualify. (The numbers bear all of this this out — only 23 percent of recruitment age men and women (17-24 years) — would qualify; much of that is because of weight, medications, marijuana/harder drug use, and tougher mechanisms today to ferret these out in the process).
Still others say the incentives are gone: there are more opportunities for young people to find jobs in the private sector without risking getting their arms and legs blown off in a war. That of course is a big reason: Generation Z saw 20 years of foreign forever wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, heard all the stories about death, destruction, and systematic lying by the government to perpetuate them, and conclude, “Not for me.”
We know that Americans’ faith in the military has plummeted in recent years. All the above and more can be part of the mix. But a valuable new Project on Government Oversight (POGO) report by Nick Schwellenbach offers yet another explanation: that the services are falling down on the job when it comes to keeping recruits out of danger — right here at home.
POGO got its hands on a previously private January 2023 internal audit that found that, despite all the money and reported attention on issues plaguing the armed forces, including suicide, drug abuse, domestic violence, and sexual harassment in the ranks, there really hasn’t been an organized effort to fix any of it, at all.
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/05/29/for-memorial-day-lets-get-real-about-the-recruitment-crisis/
