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

Reality, only 1% of the general population ever served or is serving in the military. Present recruiting is targeting the 20% of the population that would never join and will not make good military personnel, and the 1% would rather not think about. They need to stop trying to recruit the people that will never join the military and go back to recruiting the people that are willing to join.

Are the military benefits good anymore?

How many active duty , and veterans actively advise their children to not serve.

The real issue is the lack of faith in leadership, and how active/ veterans get treated.

Let's face facts, the average American male today is not only out of shape they are also out of touch with reality! Video games; movies; the Internet and, their education have destroyed their perception of reality. The educational system indoctrinates them without educating them! My generation had mandatory physical education in school, today so many school districts have eliminated PE and, have concentrated on teaching Woke subjects. I personally believe that the Marxist have totally taken over the education system in America and that unless this situation is reversed we are doomed!

Maybe you could start by explaining what the VA system will be like when they leave service and its shortcomings. Long delays of coverage delayed for decades. Talk about lifetime experiences found in no other job. Get rid of the classification system and treat all as trusted soldiers. Us a hammer when they stray.

I got the message from politicians and appointees that people like me, citizens with traditional values, aren't valued any longer and are extremists because of those values and religious beliefs. For that and other reasons I don't recommend service to friends or family any longer.

Get rid of woke leadership and start treating the recruits as military people not babies. No one wants to join any service when they have to serve with people who can not stand up to the training. Lowering standards is not the answer.

Stop turning the military into a sort of social experiment, get real men and real women by that I mean biological real men and women. We might end up going to war and I hate for some guy who thinks he's a woman to forget his makeup bag. Sound harsh yeah? You better get your head out of your a__ , know your enemy isn't going to give a dam about what the definition of a woman is, he is going to KILL you despite what you think

I think the main problem is there is no visibility to the military like there used to be. There needs to be TV and radio commercials promoting the military and what it has to offer.

And I’m not talking about those cheesy TV commercials that came out not that long ago. Those were horrible and did a major disservice to military recruiting. I couldn’t take it seriously so I know that the targeted audience certainly couldn’t have taken it seriously either.

Take politics and wokeness back out of the military, period.

Don't worry about being too fat (within reason), that is what basic training is for. You get a new mental state of mind and a new body.

I think, maybe there is 2 different ways to look at this. The first, is just WHO occupies the WH?
The next is the strength of the current US military, & if the answers come back with an older more senile gentleman, not understanding where he is most of the time, that has more vacation time than a dog has fleas, smells little girls hair, then odds are that the military is going into the deep six. The natural sense is the US military will normally suffer. On the other hand when AMERICA has a strong friend in the WH, the nation as a whole will gather, around such a leader., & transform the USA military into a real fighting force. ITS JUST SIMPLE LOGIC! GOD BLESS AMERICA, can anyone let us know just where is the nuclear football, NOW?

Better leadership

THE WORLD FAILS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE LARGE NUMBER OF RECRUITABLE CITIZENS WHO DONT HAVE THE WILL POWER TO STOP SMOKING LONG ENOUGH TO PASS THE DRUG TEST. WAIVE THE MARIQUANA REQUIREMENT TO GET IN! BUT HEY IM NO ONE. I JUST HELPED MY FRIEND WHO IS A RECRUITER RECRUIT TWO PEOPLE WITH NO EFFORT AND I HAVE 8 FRIENDS WHO WOULD LEAVE TOMORROW IF THEY WERE NOT REQUIRED TO STOP SMOKING PRIOR TO LEAVING. THE TIME IT TAKE TO GET CLEAN IS LONG AND MAYY SEEM BLEEK TO SOMEONE WHO ONLY MAY HAVE A CHANCE AFTER THEY QUIT. PEOPLE HAVE TO DEAL WITH THEIR DEMONS DURING THAT TIME AND THAT IS SOMETHING THAT ISNT BEING ADDRESSED. SAME CONCEPT OF THE ADDICT WHO DIES BC THEY COULDNT BE SOBER TO GET INTO THE REHAB. OFFER DETOX WITHIN THE TRAINING. THIS WOULD BE LIFE SAVING. IT MAY ALSO BRING ABOUT AN INCLUSIVITY TO SOME CITIZENS WHO MAY FEEL DISENFRANCHISED DUE TO MARIJUANA USE. THEY CAN DETOX IN BASIC AND THE CHARACTER THAT IS BUILT AND THE LIFE CHANGE THAT IS GIVEN WILL CARRY THEM FAR..bY THE TIME THEY GRADUATE YOU WILL HAVE BUILT NOT ONLYA SOLDIER BUT A LOYAL ONE BECAUSE YOU GAVE THEM A CHANCE WHEN THEY HAD NOWHERE TO TURN.

Maybe the wokeness should go...just saying a dude parading around acting like a woman and claiming diversity is our strength. Not to mention the nearly endless waivers for both physical fitness and deployment for the 'transgender' people isn't helpful. Who wants to serve when you're nearly guaranteeing the regular gendered members are going to have to pick that slack.

Listen, most of this is going to be a rant, but here is my take.

Marketing Needs To Change: As someone who understands the tail end of millennials and generation z, the commercials/advertisements for all branches of service suck. What I mean by this, is the marketing team needs to get rid of the old Army recruiting soundtrack theme; it's not as impactful. Throw in some G-rated war scene with guns blazing, helicopters flying, yelling/screaming chaos, and some high speed joes rescuing some hostages and hopping onto a helicopter. Have Hans Zimmer come in and make some sick soundtrack THAT WILL GRAB some people's attention. This sounds cheesy but the commercials should be like Call of Duty commercials or some sick war movie trailer.

College: For Guard, Reservists, and Active Duty, the DOD needs to come together on a singular system on how to pay for college degrees. There are too many confusing things to go through for whichever program you are on. MAKE IT A SINGLE PROGRAM DOD WIDE. Only Massachusetts National Guard has 100% tuition and fee waiver and they had a simple system of requesting it for each semester. Other than that, you had to have deployed and found a yellow ribbon school anywhere else in the country to go for "free" if you were not in the Guard. (Aside from Voke rehab and the other very few programs). Maybe there are some other options, but this chaos of figuring out was just asinine. Yes, I get it, ROTC is available, but not everyone wanted to go officer. Final thing I will say on this is make it easy to sign up for.

Drug testing: Marijuana is now recreationally legal in 24 of the 50 states. Time to drop that as a disqualifier. But that is going to take an act of congress to do.

VA Home Loan: With anything with the VA, it is a headache. But this one took me by surprise. After 6 years of honorable service, I got out. While I was in the IRR, I simply just wanted to retrieve the Certificate of Eligibility (which can be re-used for life, you only have to get it once), to show that I am eligible for a VA Home loan. I submitted my NGB-22, among other forms and my god, it was like going to the fucking RMV. "Oh we need this now, we need that now." Their brochure did not match what they were asking for in order to provide this for me. I ended up having to reach out to someone who I knew and they sent me my entire iPERMs file just so I could grab my orders to prove that I was released from the National Guard to the IRR.... even though I had a NGB-22 already showing I served honorably.

(Not based on my own experience) Tricare: Great for Active Duty from what I heard, had to jump through some hoops if you were a reservist.

Barracks: Holy Jeebus Christmas, we need to get mold out of some of those barracks. We literally have our own horizontal and vertical engineer companies that BUILD BUILDINGS overseas. Why can't we use them to build some new state of the art barracks here at home? This would provide them with direct, real world experience.

Jobs/Matching the current industry: Not every MOS in the military transfers 1:1 directly to a job on the civilian side. This was the biggest case for Information Technology/Signal Series folks 10 years ago when in 2013 I was still installing Windows XP on a machine. Majority of the FORTUNE 500 companies had already moved on from Windows XP by 2013. If you aren't doing the engineering or true administration of a network switch/windows PC/servers, you aren't going to find anything more than a help desk job outside of the military. Just being the guy that knows how to simply setup a SINCGARs radio and a BFT isn't going to cut it. Being the SME on CPOF (Command Post of the Future) isn't going to cut it either. I really hope the DOD as a whole has fixed this since 10 years ago for my fellow 25 Series.

Leadership & Process Improvement: Toxic leadership and the chaos of hurry up, wait and disorganized training plans. Listen, I knew what I signed up for, but there needs to be an organizational wide process improvement put into place for many things to have good retention and to have people that are in encourage others to come in. By the time I was getting out, I told others, "the only reason to go in, is to get college paid for. Otherwise, it sucks." I still stand by it quite possibly for the rest of my life.

Am I still glad I did it? Yeah absolutely. Will I let my kids someday join? Sure that's their choice but I'm going to lay out the warnings that may or may not still apply by the time they are of age. I definitely won't be pushing them to go in.

You're probably not going to agree with this but my solution would be a mandatory enlistment for all American citizens who are able to pass the enlistment requirements. I've felt like that for years.

Maybe the problem was in the advertising used for recruiting, and perhaps it is already being solved.

Until recently the Army and Marine Corps advertised that service was a challenge; the Navy advertised travel and adventure; and the Air Force advertised that everyone would be an ace fighter pilot (except for their brief experiment advertising "No sweat, it's just a job")

Now all the services are advertising how woke they are. Enlist today - Pick your MOS - Pick your gender.

As an outsider looking in my statement is based from a "civilians view" and have not kept up with all the changes within the Armed Forces so do not get all miffed, it is just an outside observation.
To me, is not really a difficult answer. I know that restructuring is long and a massive undertaking, so this is just an observation point only. You have to ask, "What is "the" issue turning recruits away." It is Who is running it and how it's being administered. Are the DECISIONS in the best interest of those in the Armed Forces.

1st. Remove every CHIEF OF STAFF, General, Admiral or Officer who have endorsed and are making decisions based on this new liberal, DEI , WHITE RAGE HORSESHIT political movement. The Military is supposed to be neutral and act in a cohesive function, not divided, or be taking sides when it comes to political agendas that serve the interests of those who act contrary to the Interests of the Nation, military personnel and citizenry. Each Chief of Staff do not have to follow this new liberal thinking.
( Show me any LIBERAL thinking in the Chinese Military, the Iranian Guard, or ISIS, Taliban or any Communist Military, not even Israel IDF does this BS ) When you have leadership within the Military Hierarchy pushing a divisive agenda then they have been incentivized financially or more into enforcing this Liberal Agenda. That alone creates an atmosphere of distrust establishing that this leadership is acting in their personal interests not the welfare of the Nation's Forces tasked with its Security. It is a no brainer- it is not popular among the Civilians and you see the conflict in the streets. So how would it work within the Armed Forces???
Remember, the Military does have the ability to Contest any Commands from Congress or the President if those decisions compromise the Security of this Nation and its Military Personnel and it is direct conflict to Constitutional Law and International Law. The Constitution is very clear as to the function of our Armed Forces and how it is applied. Going to War that violates both the Constitutional Laws and International laws is an illegal act. Over the last 12 decades numerous Amendments were created and worded in a way that circumvented Constitutional Laws and made it ambiguous. Too many branches of the Military/ Federal operate outside of the laws.
Too many times this Nation has gone to war for the purpose of enriching those in Power who have personal investments in the Companies that build all the Military Hardware and R/D. Or wealthy Lobbyist that donate for favoritism. Now you have those in Office who intentionally change policies that benefit other Nations and not our own! Massive waste of Tax Payers money and loss of lives squandered out of greed.

2. Hold HIGH RANKING OFFICERS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR CRIMES and Violations of the UCMJ!!!
( They sure as hell hold EM and lower ranking officers accountable for the Uppers fuck ups!) ( Pissing down the leg syndrome ) Especially when they violate the Lower Ranks Civil Rights! Like the Mandated Covid Shots! To dismiss them from their military enrollment for refusing this is a violation of their civil rights! Yes, people you still retain your civil rights even in the Military.

3. Reduce the amount of Redundant Military Bases in countries where those Nations are "grown up" enough to take care of themselves. This Nation was NEVER meant to be the Police Force for the World and we shouldn't have to. All those NATO Nations are big boys and we have paid the bills long enough!!! A great deal of our tax money already supports numerous countries and it is time they start learning to take care of themselves. All that money being squandered is also being grafted to line the pockets of many Politicians both Foreign and Domestic so don't kid yourself.

4. Redirect that money used in redundant bases to better pay scale for the Enlisted Personnel, they do all the real work and are the most vulnerable in casualties. BETTER BENEFITS TOO!!!

5. Take down how the VA has been operating and rebuild the administrative function. A great deal of money goes into the system and it is not truly going to the needs of our Veterans and Wounded Veterans. Very OVERPAID administrators!

6. Oh, I failed to mention that there should not be any draft. That is forcing people to lay down their lives. That should be up to that individual to make that choice if they are willing to act altruistic for the Nation. Also, it may violate a person's conscience and no one should be forced to make such a choice...because remember...freedom of choice. The draft removes that freedom. Once a person has willingly joined then of course the freedoms should be within reason. Example: During the time of King David when protecting the Nation of Israel he let be known that those who could not feel comfortable with having to go to battle, taking a life, if it comes to that then they may be excused from such service and not place the Military in jeopardy because a soldier may have second thoughts in the heat of battle. King David was considered very wise in these matters and made more decisions with outside nations based on negotiations and treaties with peace in mind, not greed or malice. Modern nations should take note from wise leaders from Antiquity who led Nations successfully.

This is just my .02 worth

Get back to the basics and get rid of this woke train they’re on right now.

I think it is a multi-faceted issue. First, military life is not glamorous, nor is it easy. Today’s teens and young adults are looking for the easy button. The recruiting and Retention efforts need to be focused toward those that are willing to put forth effort. Call it OJT, but it’s so much more than that because you get formal training in your MOS, but in my opinion it’s been watered down to very basic knowledge in many cases. Leaders at all levels need to understand that just because it’s automated, doesn’t make it easy to do in some cases. They need to get out of the us/them mentality and train their soldiers, not just worrying about when’s my next promotion. The good ole boy/girl system is alive and well. It really needs to stop, but people are people and we always tend to help those that help us succeed. Rules and regulations are there for a reason and they need to be adhered to, not brushed off or swept under a rug when someone breaks them. If you lose it, buy it. …I could go on and on. When you focus on those that want to be there, you will not only retain, but entice those to join.

The reason why the military isbhaving low recruit rates is because the military has drastically changed from its standards amd regulations. They keep trying to fit in with societal standards when the military is supposed to be a different standard and lifestyle. Im ex-army and things have changed. I would NEVER rejoin the service with the ridiculously loose changes that have been made. I trust old school military with my life not this new age military