Recruiting is in the tank! (bathroom, reputation, parent, room)
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Their veteran parents are tracking that movie and they are also tracking many other odd decisions being made by the current leadership.
So when the kid comes home and says he’s thinking about joining, the parents start to talk him out of it. Some kids will join regardless, but some will listen to their parents and choose a different track.
Once you’ve lost the veterans, and I think it’s fair to say that this administration has lost a lot of veterans, recruiting becomes infinitely much harder.
I've already talked about the loss of the veteran "unofficial recruiting force" problem.
I don't think that it's a fantasy, but I'm not interested in the film because I believe that the film is a fantasy. It's a male "righteous hero" fantasy. One guy against All The Bad Guys, doing a big rescue, trope. And of course he probably had to go rogue and defy his command to go on his virtuous mission, and blah blah blah.
THAT is the fantasy. None of you are going to do that. And frankly I believe (because I've seen it) that a lot of men get very deep into the rabbit hole of obsession about human sex trafficking, because of a desperate desire to be a hero in a world where just being a functional man living a decent life has become difficult and confusing. Guys who don't thrive in normal civilian realities, fantasizing about the world going to hell so they'll get a chance to be a hero and THEN we'll all see how valuable ya'll are! Or, rather, when you remember how you were treated badly by others and did not get your way with other people, they'll be sorry when you, potential hero, refuses to save them from the Bad Guys who are sure to show up at any moment.
It's based on a true mission, yes, essentially one man. Certainly, it's been embellished and dramatized...no different from any other "based on a true story" movie. But the basic mission by that particular man did happen.
What has incensed the left is that the producers and the star do heavily push one particular strand of the child trafficking narrative that is itself true enough, and it's the particular strand portrayed in this movie, but it's not the whole child trafficking rope by any means. However...the entire big-picture issue of child trafficking doesn't come up in the movie because it's solely focused on one particular man carrying out one particular mission that did, in fact, happen. The issue of the left over this movie is rather like being upset that "Saving Private Ryan" didn't say anything about the WWII on the Russian Front.
I think that unlike the post Korean War era where the pressure of the draft made volunteering to avoid the infantry an option that the post Vietnam and Global War on Terror era's with the all volunteer force saw recruiting problems.
And unlike the later 70s with record unemployment and Richard Gere crying that he had "nowhere else to go" in An Officer and a Gentleman today with labor shortages potential recruits can boasts that " I can go anywhere" since everyone wants my talents to fill their empty positions
I think that unlike the post Korean War era where the pressure of the draft made volunteering to avoid the infantry an option that the post Vietnam and Global War on Terror era's with the all volunteer force saw recruiting problems.
When I reported onboard my first sub, most of the previous crewmen were men who had gone to college to avoid the VN draft, then when their college deferment ran out they enlisted and volunteered for subs as a method of avoiding infantry. When I enlisted the VN draft was over, but those 6-year enlistment contracts were not over yet.
I talked to two Army recruiters at a high school. They said that recruit's" medical conditions are their biggest current issue with recruiting. They said the military now has the ability to access recruits' medical records. I did a search to confirm what they told me and found the Defense Department brought a new medical records platform, known as Military Health System Genesis, online at Military Entrance Processing Stations in 2022. The recruiters told me that a potential recruit can be rejected for conditions such as asthma, ADHD, anxiety, and depression if they are currently on medication. This article has more detail.
I talked to two Army recruiters at a high school. They said that recruit's" medical conditions are their biggest current issue with recruiting. They said the military now has the ability to access recruits' medical records. I did a search to confirm what they told me and found the Defense Department brought a new medical records platform, known as Military Health System Genesis, online at Military Entrance Processing Stations in 2022. The recruiters told me that a potential recruit can be rejected for conditions such as asthma, ADHD, anxiety, and depression if they are currently on medication. This article has more detail.
It's definitely a factor for sure. This quote from the article jumps out at me: “'What it takes to get in the Army is, quite frankly, a lot of fraud and perjury,' one recruiter said." Whether people should have been lying to get in and whether a recruiter should have been telling people to lie is certainly a debate to be had, but it was happening quite a bit. That isn't an option now. There is no more "Oh, you're on antidepressants? Yeah... I'm not going to tell you to stop taking them, but what I will say is that you cannot join while you are on those or have been on them in the past. So if you are serious about joining, and you maybe decide that you want to stop taking them and forget that you were ever on them, then wait a few weeks for them to get out of your system and call me back so we can get the ball rolling again."
How big of a factor is it? I feel like it's probably a pretty big one. The numbers of kids on just ADHD meds has grown tremendously over the years. Genesis is not 100% of the reason why numbers aren't being met, but neither is the "wOkEnEsS" that some others insist is the sole reason.
I talked to two Army recruiters at a high school. They said that recruit's" medical conditions are their biggest current issue with recruiting. They said the military now has the ability to access recruits' medical records. I did a search to confirm what they told me and found the Defense Department brought a new medical records platform, known as Military Health System Genesis, online at Military Entrance Processing Stations in 2022. The recruiters told me that a potential recruit can be rejected for conditions such as asthma, ADHD, anxiety, and depression if they are currently on medication. This article has more detail.
This has already been discussed, even in this forum. Yes, medical records are now available to the military, prior to enlisting. No more hiding drug use, knee injuries, asthma. Thanks for bringing this up again.
One notable difference on Covid is the impact of “reduced interactions with recruiters “ and not the reference to vaccines. Guessing that top brass said not to mention vaccines anywhere nor anytime in media interviews.
One aspect not discussed is the changing goalposts for recruiting numbers. It’s hard to find out what the current goal is because that number has changed. The Army WAS planning to reduce active duty end strength by 32,000 soldiers….
The big news is the budget. In the draft FY24 NDAA, the House now has agreed to increase the DOD budget to match the Senate version of $886 billion. Nearly $900 billion.
Also, that wasn’t a typo. In late September, It’s draft. Just like the draft budget and looming shutdown.
One notable difference on Covid is the impact of “reduced interactions with recruiters “ and not the reference to vaccines. Guessing that top brass said not to mention vaccines anywhere nor anytime in media interviews.
When has the military ever publicly whined about the dictates of the political leadership?
Except in the build-up to the Iraq invasion...some military leadership dragged their heels on that one, but it didn't help.
I think that unlike the post Korean War era where the pressure of the draft made volunteering to avoid the infantry an option that the post Vietnam and Global War on Terror era's with the all volunteer force saw recruiting problems.
And unlike the later 70s with record unemployment and Richard Gere crying that he had "nowhere else to go" in An Officer and a Gentleman today with labor shortages potential recruits can boasts that " I can go anywhere" since everyone wants my talents to fill their empty positions
This is not just a US problem, it's a problem in many parts of the western world and beyond.
In terms of how the issue is dealt with, often has more to do with geographical and historical context than you would imagine.
For instance, in terms of Britain, it was always distrustful of a standing Army and traditionally kept an Army half the size of the major European land powers.
At the same time, Britain an island with overseas interests in relation to it's largely trading Empire built a Navy twice the size of it's nearest rivals to protect both itself from invasion and to defend trading routes and overseas interests.
Furthermore Britain encouraged other Commonwealth nations and their local leaders who were being made wealthy through trade, to maintain Armed forces and to defend themselves, whilst helping to train their forces, and alongside the Armed forces they also policed themselves, and it should be noted that the British Army never stationed more than 70,000 troops in India, a country that grew to a population of well over 300 million.
Even today this thinking is still prevalent, and famous British commanders from Robert Rogers and his Rangers through to the the first Commandos and the likes of Orde Wingate and the Chindits or David Stirling and the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) and Special Air Service.
Recent British thinking has been to basically make the Army smaller, better equipped, more reactive and more elite, rather than trying to just cater for those who are overweight or have health issues, indeed if you just want mass in terms of sheer numbers you can get that from the reserves and through fighting alongside international allies.
Britain has also diverted more spending to it's maritime forces, as well as areas such as intelligence, cyber, tech, automation, ai etc and new thinking in terms of both military doctrine, formations and how future wars will be fought.
Last edited by Brave New World; 09-23-2023 at 11:02 AM..
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Another recruting summary for end of FY
