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I remember being at a psychology conference about 12 years back. It was a work shop on sexual addiction where signs are having computer files of porn, magazines, hitting the strip bars.......and to my shocked mind, that was enlisted military, standard.
Now, the presenter did note that you can't take things in a vacuum and it depends on the situation. Or....what constitutes a school shooter? Having books on how to do explosives for one. Well, back in my JROTC during the Carter administration, books like that were in the common hall publication rack for anyone to pick up.
The thing is that it is difficult to say for the youth of today that if we were them, would we sign up? Difficult because......we don't think like them. We weren't raised in the times that they have been raised in.
I can't say of whether or not I would sign up now for while there is plenty to run from the room screaming, it was still a family requirement to serve. Would I be thinking in some ways like I did then, such as putting the letterbomb in the Playboy, of a few years ago, as a training aid? Thinking perhaps but certainly not doing for even in my time, such thinking was on its way out.....darn it.
I can say I would not become a cop at all for the way we treat them, it would be rather stupid.
A lot of them, yes... but I'm not seeing that in my real life associations with them. They know it's a 'thing' and that's the way it is, but a great many of them are smart enough to know how stupid it is.
Especially the one who attended colleges and take courses that will do nothing for them in the real world. I once read that only 26% of college grads work in the fields for which they received a degree in. And 98%of graduates of trade schools either are working in their field of train, or are journeyman in the field they trained in, or have jobs open and waiting for them to complete their training. And there isn't any woke training in the trade schools.
Especially the one who attended colleges and take courses that will do nothing for them in the real world. I once read that only 26% of college grads work in the fields for which they received a degree in. And 98%of graduates of trade schools either are working in their field of train, or are journeyman in the field they trained in, or have jobs open and waiting for them to complete their training. And there isn't any woke training in the trade schools.
Well, keep in mind we are talking about the military and how many officers work in the field they got their degrees in?
Wokeness and CRT? I'm surprised you didn't throw "They don't want to join because they don't want to be forced to get vaccinated!" in there too.
It's not as much the wokeism and non-existent CRT that is keeping kids out; it's more along the lines of the increasing numbers of youths that are overweight/obese in this country, the increasing numbers of youths with disqualifying diagnosed mental disorders or on medications, a disastrous 20-year War on Terror that accomplished nothing except enriching companies like Lockheed, and the fact that even Walmarts and Targets and grocery store chains are paying for college educations now.
I also want to say that teens are having more problems passing the ASVAB now but I'd have to research that one a bit; I only have an anecdote about a relative on my wife's side of the family who recently failed multiple times before being able to pass it, and feel like I've heard that the inability to pass it is increasing, but I'm not sure where that was.
But anyway:
-Teens can't meet the current fitness and health standards
-20+ years of horrible foreign policy and disastrous wars
-More businesses and companies are offering to pay for college now/the benefits aren't as attractive
-The pandemic played a big role in low recruiting numbers over the last few years, with social distancing measures making it hard for recruiters to get face-to-face time with potential recruits and MEPS slowdowns/shutdowns causing a backlog of people waiting to test or waiting to get evaluated or waiting to ship out. Not all of those people who were waiting multiple months to be able to join kept waiting; some moved on to other things.
-And then also yeah: A lack of patriotism spurred by government administrations, both current and recent, probably has a small impact. For as many people triggered over perceived "woke-ism," there are as many upset by perceived imperialism. Both sides have their issues with the military/govt.
Enlistments have been low for years. Quick searches show that in 2015 they were struggling to make numbers, in 2019 some people were floating the idea of bringing back the draft to make up for lagging numbers (they did meet their recruitment goals in 2019 though), in the beginning of 2020 before the pandemic they were struggling to get recruits, they were DEFINITELY struggling during the pandemic, and they are struggling to enlist people now. Retentions recently have been pretty high though which kind of counters that a bit. But if Trump didn't have a big impact on recruiting, either causing a huge spike or a huge drop, then Biden probably won't either.
There are a lot of factors at play and it can't be boiled down to "The angry man in the bowtie that yells at me from the TV said that Milley and Austin are going to turn my soldier son transgender and then sell him to the Chinese!"
Take for instance citizenship: Changes in immigration policy during the beginning of Trump's presidency (not necessarily related to policies he directly implemented) caused a decline in enlistments of people wanting to gain expedited citizenship through service. The ACLU sued on behalf of some troops who were serving but being blocked from getting that expedited citizenship, got the policies overturned, and then numbers started rising again (again, not saying it was Trump that caused it specifically, I don't really know at this moment, but it was during those years).
I'm not predicting one but I wouldn't be surprised to see a bit of a bump because of the war in Ukraine though. People are angry about what's going on over there, especially a lot of younger people. It wouldn't be the exact same as the spike in enlistments that lasted for a little bit after 9/11, not exactly patriotism, but more just from anger at the injustice and a feeling of wanting to do something.
What type of officers are you referring to. Military Officers, policeman, , Special Agent?
Most military officers, outside of corps like medical or legal, are probably not working their actual college majors. They may, however, be working the major the military works for that specialty. The Air Force, for instance, likes to make pilots of engineers.
Most military officers, outside of corps like medical or legal, are probably not working their actual college majors. They may, however, be working the major the military works for that specialty. The Air Force, for instance, likes to make pilots of engineers.
Oh copy that,
I know that in the SeaBees it's now required that to make CPO and above to have a degree in something. And most of our officers had engineering degrees, which is beneficial for them in the outside world.
What type of officers are you referring to. Military Officers, policeman, , Special Agent?
Military.
In the Navy, they wanted us all to have engineering degrees for scholarship. It didn't matter in what but just an engineering degree. A and B. A: The Navy is highly technical so they wanted that kind of developed mind to be able to understand whatever was encountered. B: But how many of us ended up doing the kind of technology we studied, to use the calculus and diff eq we spent so many semesters in?
Now, on another thing, who is this angry man in a bow tie people are talking about.......Les Nessman?
Especially the one who attended colleges and take courses that will do nothing for them in the real world. I once read that only 26% of college grads work in the fields for which they received a degree in. And 98%of graduates of trade schools either are working in their field of train, or are journeyman in the field they trained in, or have jobs open and waiting for them to complete their training. And there isn't any woke training in the trade schools.
This is a false equivalency. College is not a trade school and the goals are not the same. As noted, a lot of college grads work outside of their major, but they have a job that probably required them to have a degree -- any degree -- to get the job.
I would say that the biggest single factor in today's low recruitment numbers is the economy. A young kid of 18 cares little about political issues or who is in the White House. He/she is looking for some excitement, adventure, and a way to make some money... and often looking for some escape from the life that currently doesn't appear to offer him/her any real promise.
Today, jobs are a dime a dozen. If an 18 year old can fog a mirror placed under their nose, they can get a job almost anywhere. And if they're not interested in working, they can usually find a way to game the system to get money for NOT working.
So I don't look for things to change much in this regard unless/until we hit a severe recession and unemployment rises considerably.
As for physical condition of today's youth, I don't think that's a particularly important matter. The military can make SIGNIFICANT improvements in the shape and physical condition of a young recruit in 3 or 4 months. If the kid is not too far out of shape, he/she can become solid and conditioned in about 2 months.
But mainly it's the economy. The military can always change their entrance requirements as the need arises to meet recruitment demands.
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