Article from USA Facts...
Why aren’t people joining the military?
The US military is facing an unprecedented challenge in recruitment, with some branches falling short of their goals and a decline in eligible young Americans. As the appeal of military service competes with the job market, here are the reasons behind enlisting — or not.
The Marine Corps and Space Force anticipate meeting their 2023 recruitment goals. However, the Army expects to recruit 55,000 new soldiers, 10,000 behind its goal. The Air Force expects to be 10,000 people short, and the Navy expects a 6,000-person shortfall.
In 2020, the Defense Department estimated that 23% of Americans ages 17–24 were eligible for military service, down 29% from 2016.
One of the top reasons for dwindling military numbers is obesity: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that more than one in three young adults is too heavy to join the military.
There were 1.3 million active-duty military in 2022, 39% fewer than in 1987 — the recent peak.
In a poll from spring 2022, 2% of people ages 16 to 24 replied, “Definitely” to the likelihood of joining the military. Eight percent responded, “Probably,” while 89% were unlikely to consider joining.
Pay, future educational opportunities, and travel were the top three reasons people say they would join the military.
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13 comments:
Interesting. Judging by the advertisements for our military organisations we face a similar short fall.
And all of the crazy culture. War stuff.
"Possibility of physical injury/death" is certainly a factor, but I'm sure that the horror of being forced to associate with "wokeness" (whatever that is) is the main reason. Just ask a recognized expert like Ron DeSantis.
None of this is surprising.
What Debra said.
It's interesting they don't address the fact that the population of the country is aging.
All - What I see in the future is the return of the draft. And as I have mentioned in the past, a year of national service for everyone around ages 18-20 would be a good idea.
I was gonna say the Americans are too fat and sick to join the military.
Lady - 1 in 3 Americans are too overweight to join.
I thought basic training took care of obesity. It did that poor guy in Full Metal Jacket.
I can see where people who grew up with the Iraq War may be reluctant to join the military.
Kirk - And Iraq wasn't even a war. It was us picking on a small nation again.
How sad that obesity is one of the top reasons for under-enlistment. Pathetic, really. The security offered by the military, after serving your time (health care, fiscal security), that's a big perk too, right? Or maybe not so much. US is lousy to its vets. Sigh.
Robyn - I hear too many guys complain about the VA.
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