Is This ‘What They Signed Up For?’ New Military Missions Ignite Interest in Conscientious Objectors
For U.S. troops conflicted about their service, following their conscience can be costly
July 10, 2025| Hope Hodge Seck
Joy Metzler had expected to still be in uniform, working as a junior officer at her Air Force engineering job. Instead, she found herself protesting outside the United Nations, weakened from participating in a 40-day fast as she called on authorities to deliver full humanitarian aid to Gaza and end U.S. weapons transfers to Israel.
The soft-spoken 23-year-old had pursued military service with enthusiasm. She graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2023 and received her commission the same year, hoping that the military would provide a meaningful way to give back to a country that became her home when she was adopted from China as an infant.
“I wanted to protect people. I wanted to serve,” said Metzler, who met her husband, now an officer in the Space Force, at the academy. “And I don’t think it’s a far cry to say that I’m the kind of person who doesn’t mind putting my body on the line for things I believe in. So the military really just kind of made sense.”
Then, a crisis of conscience changed everything.
https://thewarhorse.org/military-conscientious-objectors-interest-surge/
