Military recruiting crisis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the religious exemption. White right wing Christians will not fight Russia, get vaccinated, serve with blacks/Hispanics/Jews/democrats/etc, on religion grounds. This is all protected by SCOTUS.

Have you ever met anyone in the military?

+1 Clearly not!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/military-recruiting-crisis-veterans-dont-want-their-children-to-join-510e1a25?mod=djemalertNEWS

They leave out a main factor. Trump has made the rank and file conservatives (who were formerly pro military) anti war and anti woke. Liberals who are pro war now do not join the military and never have. Here we are with proxy WW3 in Europe and China on the move with our military shrinking.

They were anti-war when Democrats were President. Bush ran on 'a more humble foreign policy.' Trump actually did that a little bit, while going to war in Syria to take the oil.

[Anonymous]

The GOP is trying to systematically tear down public schools and public health support, so now the hs graduates most likely to go into the military aren't qualified enough, may not get enough healthy food to eat, and may not pass the exams.

Duh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On a related note, what do those of you with a military background think about the exemption for military academies in the recent Supreme Court affirmative action decision? A cynical person might say that the exception gives the impression that the SC thinks affirmative action is okay as a recruitment tool for the military but not okay as a way to remove barriers to accessing a quality college education. Thoughts?

It seems that way, but the issue is they will give more deference to a military statement that it is important for national security, than a college president's statement that diversity is needed to boost educational quality. Plus the Supreme Court technically argued that the college never demonstrated or even presented an argument for educational benefits, and instead argued social benefits.

[Anonymous]

Maybe they shouldn't have fired people for refusing to get covid vaccines.

[Anonymous]

This whole thread is ridiculous. As the article noted, only 23 percent of 18 year olds are even capable of joining the military

If people posting here are representative of America, you folks are raising fat, drug-addicted, criminally-inclined useless idiots

For the other 23 percent, yes, there are issues. And they are manifold. And they differ from officer retention concerns to what kid wants to go to Basic when even Walmart is paying more than $2000 a month. Soldiers on food stamps is a travesty.

There needs to be a rethink. And it needs to happen soon. Iraq and Afghanistan were disasters. What was the point of any it? Young people see that and think, no thank you. America seems to be very quick at throwing away the lives of young people - for nothing. If you're 18 years old and you see that and you know Walmart is going to pay more, you're going to think F*ck that. Why would I join the military?

We need two things. Better politicians first and foremost. People that are wiser about how we use military force. And we need to make it worthwhile for people to join. It's only a small percentage of young Americans that are even eligible. Make it worth it. Food stamps aren't the way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The military (or government) needs to do a better of taking care of vets and giving them translatable skills to the workforce once they leave.

Be sure to vote for the spending this requires. Conservatives say “support the troops” but they never mean “with funding”, they mean with parades and bumper stickers. The skills transfer. Taking care of vets is expensive.

There are lots of liberals and moderates in uniform, btw, OP. Our country is just to out of shape and kids grew up the damage war does to a life and a family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Vast majority with warrior skills are masculine. Masculinity is highly correlated with conservative values. Military becoming hostile to conservative values. Warriors don’t see the military as prestigious anymore.

This is ridiculous. My husband is retired military. He told his son he could not join. The military is NOT hostile to conservative values, however, conservatives are hostile to providing that actual services that veterans need when they return home.

I look at how veterans are treated. No way I would have my kid join.

As a military wife, many things have changed. Military personnel used to have great retirement benefits - they no longer have those. If you go onto a base, it used to offer things that weren't offered off base, cheap products, recreational activities, those have scaled down considerably. The military has not made it attractive to join. They just keep cutting benefits while in, and then treating veterans like s*it when they get home.

+1
Always money for fancy toys built in their state but never for vet medical care.

The military is not hostile toward conservatives, it is adamantly opposed to extremism and politics and religion- and the current combination- in command. If I heard one more new commander go on about the bible, I was going to lose it. Keep that at home. And you, 05, with a “don’t tread on me” flag on your government housing on federal property? That’s rich. Enjoy retirement.

It used to be common knowledge that leaders kept their politics private and separate from work. But like fundamentalists, the current Republican Party pretends they're oppressed if they have to have any boundaries about their evangelism. The military is as diverse as our country so you may call it “woke”, but most of us call it living and working with different people as a team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is ridiculous. As the article noted, only 23 percent of 18 year olds are even capable of joining the military

If people posting here are representative of America, you folks are raising fat, drug-addicted, criminally-inclined useless idiots

For the other 23 percent, yes, there are issues. And they are manifold. And they differ from officer retention concerns to what kid wants to go to Basic when even Walmart is paying more than $2000 a month. Soldiers on food stamps is a travesty.

There needs to be a rethink. And it needs to happen soon. Iraq and Afghanistan were disasters. What was the point of any it? Young people see that and think, no thank you. America seems to be very quick at throwing away the lives of young people - for nothing. If you're 18 years old and you see that and you know Walmart is going to pay more, you're going to think F*ck that. Why would I join the military?

We need two things. Better politicians first and foremost. People that are wiser about how we use military force. And we need to make it worthwhile for people to join. It's only a small percentage of young Americans that are even eligible. Make it worth it. Food stamps aren't the way.

Soldiers in general are not eligible for food stamps. Enlisted members get BAS (Basic Allowance for Subsistence) which is a food allowance OR if they are single and lower ranking, they live in the barracks and are able to eat at the chow hall.

When soldiers are eligible for food stamps, WIC, etc. it's because they have a family when they are still very low rank/few years in.

And Walmart isn't paying $2000/month for the majority of store level employees. Big box stores like that keep their employees below 40 hours a week, and they can cut hours any time they want.

[Anonymous]

https://militarypay.defense.gov/Portals/3/Documents/2023%20Basic%20Pay%20Table.pdf

Here is the pay chart. Keep in mind this is just monthly pay.
Enlisted members also qualify either for BAS ($452.56/month) OR if they live in the barracks they get free meals in the chow hall.

They also get free housing (barracks for singles, on base housing for married/families) OR they get a housing allowance (BAH) which varies based on their rank, family status, and duty station.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is ridiculous. As the article noted, only 23 percent of 18 year olds are even capable of joining the military

If people posting here are representative of America, you folks are raising fat, drug-addicted, criminally-inclined useless idiots

For the other 23 percent, yes, there are issues. And they are manifold. And they differ from officer retention concerns to what kid wants to go to Basic when even Walmart is paying more than $2000 a month. Soldiers on food stamps is a travesty.

There needs to be a rethink. And it needs to happen soon. Iraq and Afghanistan were disasters. What was the point of any it? Young people see that and think, no thank you. America seems to be very quick at throwing away the lives of young people - for nothing. If you're 18 years old and you see that and you know Walmart is going to pay more, you're going to think F*ck that. Why would I join the military?

We need two things. Better politicians first and foremost. People that are wiser about how we use military force. And we need to make it worthwhile for people to join. It's only a small percentage of young Americans that are even eligible. Make it worth it. Food stamps aren't the way.

Better politicians is absolutely the answer. They’ve stopped legislating and doing policy… the entire reason they’re elected!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is ridiculous. As the article noted, only 23 percent of 18 year olds are even capable of joining the military

If people posting here are representative of America, you folks are raising fat, drug-addicted, criminally-inclined useless idiots

For the other 23 percent, yes, there are issues. And they are manifold. And they differ from officer retention concerns to what kid wants to go to Basic when even Walmart is paying more than $2000 a month. Soldiers on food stamps is a travesty.

There needs to be a rethink. And it needs to happen soon. Iraq and Afghanistan were disasters. What was the point of any it? Young people see that and think, no thank you. America seems to be very quick at throwing away the lives of young people - for nothing. If you're 18 years old and you see that and you know Walmart is going to pay more, you're going to think F*ck that. Why would I join the military?

We need two things. Better politicians first and foremost. People that are wiser about how we use military force. And we need to make it worthwhile for people to join. It's only a small percentage of young Americans that are even eligible. Make it worth it. Food stamps aren't the way.

Soldiers in general are not eligible for food stamps. Enlisted members get BAS (Basic Allowance for Subsistence) which is a food allowance OR if they are single and lower ranking, they live in the barracks and are able to eat at the chow hall.

When soldiers are eligible for food stamps, WIC, etc. it's because they have a family when they are still very low rank/few years in.

And Walmart isn't paying $2000/month for the majority of store level employees. Big box stores like that keep their employees below 40 hours a week, and they can cut hours any time they want.

The point remains. Pay/benefits are not worth it for the 23 percent of young Americans that are even eligible to join the military. Until that changes, there will be problems with recruitment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they shouldn't have fired people for refusing to get covid vaccines.

Do you have any idea how many vaccines active military are required to get

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they shouldn't have fired people for refusing to get covid vaccines.

Do you have any idea how many vaccines active military are required to get

DP here
Yes, and no one complains about those. There wasn't even that much pushback about the Anthrax vaccine. The Covid vaccine was different than anything else experienced in our modern times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they shouldn't have fired people for refusing to get covid vaccines.

+1