How would you solve the military recruiting challenges currently facing DOD?

Woke is a problem, next is news articles like I saw yesterday where a marine was killed during the withdrawal in Afghanistan the gov was going to charge her family 60K for transport to Arlington after a stop for a funeral in California,,, really bad optics there, the GI bill is not worth much as 4 year degrees don’t mean as much. I did read about a pilot program for setting up business the same amount as the go bill offered, help more become plumbers and electricians needed jobs on the outside. So my advice would be less woke, more real help at separation for needed blue collar jobs that pay well.

Radical idea, and not necessarily my personal opinion: go to a male only force. Maybe keep women in segregated units that do not come into contact with BCTs, in select MOSs (my mother was a paper-pusher in the 80s/90s, and had a very poor experience with fellow Soldiers, something I witnessed repeatedly over my decade of service).

The Army tries to be a big, friendly organization for everybody. It's task is war, period. Remove the headaches of a gender-integrated force and see how many young men line up for what was once considered a right of passage, an obligation to your country, an honor. Not a jobs and benefits program.

Just take a look at the mental health/ dating/ education attainment numbers for young men. Anyone have any ideas what is going on? Crickets (at least in most controlled forums).

Focus on war fighting: fighting and winning our nations war by means of firepower and maneuver. All the social engineering has killed our military. When the draft ended people were afraid about readiness but the change to an all volunteer Army was great…. If you want to join the military for any reason other than fighting and winning our nations wars you are not needed. I have worked in various capacities and still work for the military (44 years in November). Many positive societal changes have come from the military but that is a second order effort. Primary focus must be war fighting…. The military has lost ifs focus…. Return to one Army, one purpose!

Change in leadership at the highest levels

First off, I'd emplace REAL leaders in top positions in both the Pentagon and DoD civilian side. Obama pretty much saw all the true Warfighter Generals and Admirals leave. Next, I'd get rid of EVERY bit of "woke" "DEI" nonsense. I would RAISE rather than lower recruiting standards, e.g.; no felony convictions, no drug possession/use convictions, limited waivers for 1 or 2 times drug usage. (Regardless of what States and "society" are doing, they're still ILLEGAL at the Federal level), at least a High School Graduate, score in top 1/3d of ASVAB, absolutely NO men pretending to be women or women pretending to be men. The Military is no place for such people. And YES, I know the same was said of Blacks, Indians and women, but at least those groups didn't have mental disorders, at least not on a wide-scale.

As with so many companies that have gone WOKE, so has the Military. AB and Bud Light should serve as the poster child for this agenda, and now the Jason Aldean song, "Try that in a small town", you better believe it, I am from a small Texas town. Now the Movie, "Call of Freedom" by and independent producer just topped 100 million at the box office. The WOKE need to wake up!
Basically the FJB administration has dismanteled the mission, focus, and purpose, of the WAR Machine and pussified the Military at large. Sensitiviy and tolerancce training, gender pretenders wanting surgeries, gender neutral uniforms, sodomites and queers. What TRUE American Man or Woman who takes the pledge of aliegence, and is willing to raise their right hand and put thier life on that line, and go kill the enemy, would want to be a part of that?! When did the Military become an EEOC employer?!
God help us if we have another Pearl Harbor, or 911, we are not prepared to defend anything, much less take the fight to them!

Need to restart the draft for a couple of reasons: to strengthen our military and give it a boost; to give this younger generation especially the ones that don’t want to go to college the discipline and knowledge they need to figure out what they want to do with their lives; to teach young people things that they will never learn as a civilian and build their confidence; and lastly if they make a career out of the military that’s a great thing for our country!

We need to use the same old style of recruitment. If we change and start to cater with this new weaker generation America will become weaker and we will be the laughing stock with the world powers.

I would impeach the buffoon in chief for starters.
After that, I would get rid of DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion).
Then I would bring back standard physical tests in schools. (I would foster the mentality of young men who are proud of their country and are willing to serve).

Think about it, in the '40s, young men lied about their age so that they could go to war and serve our once Great Nation. Today, young men pretend to be young women so they don't have to do anything challenging in life.

Get rid of the horrible Biden administration. If I had kids? I wouldn't want them serving under this pitiful Potus.