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I was watching the Joe Rohan experience recently and they had a military guy on there complaining that military recruiters can’t find enough suitable candidates.
The reasons he gave were that lots of Americans are out of shape and can’t keep up with the physical demands. He also cited that lots of people smoke marijuana, which also disqualifies them.
IMO, that’s a lazy cop out in the face of the real problem.
I say the real “problem” is that Americans are wising up and realizing that the perpetual wars that we fight all over the world serve no benefit to us and we shouldn’t be involved in those conflicts in the first place.
I also think that Americans are becoming more distrustful of authority in general, and the military wants people who will obey orders without question. They don’t want solders smart enough to think “Why are we really doing this?” They just want someone who’ll say “Yes sir” and do what they’re told.
I don’t believe in blindly supporting the troops and that everything they do is good because they’re “Just following orders”. The wars we’re fighting all over the world do not benefit us, and I think more Americans are seeing that and not going into the military for that reason.
Also, if they’re having trouble finding recruits, maybe they should change the criteria to accommodate more people. I have no sympathy for someone who complains “What were doing isn’t working” but takes no steps to change anything.
My husband and I had a date night the other night and we ended up at a bar. He was talking to another guy who use to be in about this. The other guy said that the military has changed so much over the past 6 years that any incentive that there use to be to join is just not there anymore. Which is the reason he got out. Not only that but people who learn jobs in the military are making 3 and 4 times more in the civilian world. A guy my husband worked with (they both have the same job in the military) is making 3 times as much as my husband currently is and he's been out maybe a year. He is doing the exact same job that he did when he was in the military.
The retirement system of doing 20 years and getting out as retired has been replaced with a completely different program.
The GI bill has even changed.
military recruiters can’t find enough suitable candidates.
You can replace the word military with any trade or industry. recruiters are having a very hard time meeting the demand in virtually every area. There simply are not enough quality workers available. Quality meaning they can pass a drug test, have a decent work ethic and do not have a plethora of disorders or health issues that prevent them from doing some part of their job, or from working hard for 40 or more hours a week. I do not know of any areas of business that are not complaining about this problem, so it makes sense the military would be having the same problem.
I was watching the Joe Rohan experience recently and they had a military guy on there complaining that military recruiters can’t find enough suitable candidates.
The reasons he gave were that lots of Americans are out of shape and can’t keep up with the physical demands. He also cited that lots of people smoke marijuana, which also disqualifies them.
IMO, that’s a lazy cop out in the face of the real problem.
I say the real “problem” is that Americans are wising up and realizing that the perpetual wars that we fight all over the world serve no benefit to us and we shouldn’t be involved in those conflicts in the first place.
I also think that Americans are becoming more distrustful of authority in general, and the military wants people who will obey orders without question. They don’t want solders smart enough to think “Why are we really doing this?” They just want someone who’ll say “Yes sir” and do what they’re told.
I don’t believe in blindly supporting the troops and that everything they do is good because they’re “Just following orders”. The wars we’re fighting all over the world do not benefit us, and I think more Americans are seeing that and not going into the military for that reason.
Also, if they’re having trouble finding recruits, maybe they should change the criteria to accommodate more people. I have no sympathy for someone who complains “What were doing isn’t working” but takes no steps to change anything.
Thoughts?
When the economy is great, recruiting gets tough. It has relatively nothing to do with where we are involved internationally.
Last edited by Oldhag1; 07-25-2019 at 07:50 PM..
Reason: Please don’t use red
Finding qualified recruits is not a new problem especially when there are no major wars being fought. In the Marine Corps for instance during the 1970's after Vietnam there were significant problems finding quality people.
The Corps actually enlisted people who were functionally illiterate. During boot camp there were special English classes set up for these folks as part of their initial training. There were also high rates of absent without leave, incarceration, and people being processed out for unsuitability that some commanders didn't have the manpower to mount large scale military exercises.
military recruiters can’t find enough suitable candidates.
You can replace the word military with any trade or industry. recruiters are having a very hard time meeting the demand in virtually every area. There simply are not enough quality workers available. Quality meaning they can pass a drug test, have a decent work ethic and do not have a plethora of disorders or health issues that prevent them from doing some part of their job, or from working hard for 40 or more hours a week. I do not know of any areas of business that are not complaining about this problem, so it makes sense the military would be having the same problem.
I don't think merely having drugs in your system makes you incompetant and unable to do your job. Plenty of people get s***faced drunk every single weekend and still do their job just fine, so those that do drugs are unfairly punished just because alcohol is an "acceptable" drug. IMO what you do off the clock is nobody's business but your own. I know this if off topic, but it leads to a point.
Point being, if you need more workers, and the stipulations you've put in place are making that difficult, YOU'VE GOT TO CHANGE. Looking around and expecting the world to change to suit you will always lead to disappoint. And because they are complaining about it, they have an incentive to change. They are just unwilling do to stubbornness.
I don't think merely having drugs in your system makes you incompetant and unable to do your job. Plenty of people get s***faced drunk every single weekend and still do their job just fine, so those that do drugs are unfairly punished just because alcohol is an "acceptable" drug. IMO what you do off the clock is nobody's business but your own. I know this if off topic, but it leads to a point.
Point being, if you need more workers, and the stipulations you've put in place are making that difficult, YOU'VE GOT TO CHANGE. Looking around and expecting the world to change to suit you will always lead to disappoint. And because they are complaining about it, they have an incentive to change. They are just unwilling do to stubbornness.
It is not about whether or not being under the influence on your time off impacts your job performance. Alcohol is legal, drugs are not. The all volunteer military is very hesitant to take someone who will not follow the rules (laws), and it is as simple as that. Really, it is.
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The difference is, if you can't perform in your civilian job, you are fired. If you can't perform in combat, somebody dies. No way to change the standards on that. OP I have the feeling that you would be the loudest squawker if a heavily armed military decided that it didn't like the orders given to it by the President or Congress and did its own thing.
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