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

Something of a mythological issue. Great options mean fewer recruits. Combined with the huge percentage of youth who require waivers, even the willing interested sour on the first impression of bureaucracy.

Bring the draft back for all. Then have classes to lose weight, Get a GED. Those that still do not lpass could do work with seniors and VA clinics and hospitals. Other countries have a draft and it works for them. Minimun of two year obligation. Conservation corps etc,

Same issues were prevalent in the Post-Vietnam era. Many of the same reasons were given then as well for young people not signing up. Causes? Well, duh, it is inevitable that 20 plus years of war, with probably less than 1% of the population carrying the brunt of the burden, veterans would rather be seen and not heard by the public and then the "pitting" of one era veteran against another for benefits, everyone talking up the military servicemen and women while mocking them behind their back for serving while they went out and made their fortune, blah, blah, blah, etc, etc.....same stuff different era............The older generation always talks trash about the younger, we have all lived it, especially in the military.............However, I can not think of one generation of Americans that has not come through in the "crunch". And, so it will be again, now as far as how to address it............
1st: Get rid of the fat........the fat at the top of the military pyramid, we don't need so many officers
2nd. Provide the challenge, same as back in the Post Vietnam Era, those that want the challenge will join and become the cadre for the next step in reorganization. Make men and women both have the same training, uniforms and grooming standards and if they can't they shouldn't join.
3rd: Stop trying to compete with the private sector, they do a better job of training and payment. Everyone is expeditionary, so train them as such, maybe make everyone combat arms first tour and then 2nd tour they can join for a tradecraft or career.
3rd. Expound on the unique benefits of service.....................and stop privatizing all those benefits, revert back to some of the old time benefits, like commissaries and exchanges that serve the lower enlisted, base pools that are for the personnel and free, paid base housing, etc.....
3rd: Expand the pool of candidates, the officer corps and enlisteds...........to truely begin to reflect the demographics of this country........nothing but lip service since i first joined and still not there.
4th: Fast track the immigrants that want into this country and utilize their skills, if they have gotten into the country, they have skills that can be used in the military..........
5th: Find a way to employ all the people with student loans as way to repay the loans.....
6th: as is often said in the military, these suggestions are "not all encompassing" and of course require further revision and supplementation.............of course, this are just suggestions, and they are just off the top of my head, there will always be "naysayers' and haters, but this generation, like all the others before need certain things, .......they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, they want a purpose........the military can provide that, but they should be treated the way we wish we had been treated, fairly, without regard to our previous life and compensated justly and comparable to their peers in private life.

1. Remove the voluntary status. You serve - you get benefits, a lifetime stipend, and a path to citizenship. Everyone serves in the military, no exception, if health factors abide, then you can serve in state-based non-profits, entry-level government work, etc.
2. Gym class in middle school/high school.
3. Recognize that this next generation didn't grow up with 9/11 and they're five decades away from Vietnam and almost a century away from WWII.

The voluntary basis of service is not a heroic thing to do, it's pretty much just bribing the poor and misguided and then training them to go to war. We're in a peace-time era and we should enjoy a point in our lives where we don't have brothers and sisters-in-arms being injured in twenty-year wars. We should also recognize that things have changed and that the 9/11 blood cry has changed to a TikTok murmur.

If I were king of the world...Bring back the draft BUT...if someone wants to enlist, let them do so - but for an 8-year active duty commitment (everyone that enlists already has an 8-year commitment broken down into AD, Active Reserves, Inactive Reserve, etc). Some of the most desirable jobs might have to be reserved for enlistees (due to length of training, etc.). Have a pay scale that pays enlistees more than draftees - after all, they have committed more of their lives. Allow a draftee to convert over to enlisted status at any point in their draft obligation (some draftees are going to get into the system and like it) and get credit for however much of their draft obligation has already been completed towards the 8-year AD total for enlistees. Once folks get to the 8-year point, I suspect that retention is not going to be as much of an issue since they are almost halfway to the 20-year mark. As an additional idea, draft the "obese" and send them (in a paid status) to an intense (so they REALLY want to complete the program and not just hang around) pre-basic training program - their draft obligation shouldn't start until they graduate the pre-basic training weight-loss program. Eliminate draft deferments.

My solution would probably never be adopted but it is a pleasant thought to think that lots of draftees would figure out that they are not the center of the universe and that their WANTS come secondary to the NEEDS of the group.

I have read many solid reasons why recruitment is terrible. And they are all valid and true.
Having said that, starting today re route your advertising to patriotism, challenges, paid education, and a decent pay check.
Bring back civilian recruiting Incentives. Get the public involved and a feeling of a necessity. As a country and a team. A call to arms.
The woke movement that has infiltrated the education system has crippled recruitment.
The military advertisement must show youth another alternative to the woke societal fostered idealism as keepers of freedom, of patriotism, and history of America...
Go directly to military recruiting schools and re do regulations, retool recruiters duties in their communities as ambassadors.
It seems monumental, but can be done. Changes must happen now!!

Have Congress reinstitute the DRAFT.
All Americans should be required to preform at least 18 months of Military service.
No exemptions allowed.

Less DEI, Less Alphabet Training in general. More focused training on peer/near-peer adversaries. That and stop lowering standards, it doesn't do any good.

Allow the Pledge of Allegiance to be recited in grade schools again and teach American history and Civics, not gender theory and critical race theory. Kids these days don't know what it means to be an American and how privileged we are to live in a free society, so there's nothing for them to fight for and patriotism is in the tank.

I would say you offer part of there service as an associates toward a collaged degree, then you will potentially have more student coming from high school that will look a the military as a viable option for a means to getting credit for college while making money. Then if you piggy back that with the GI Bill it would only sweetened the deal. It's really just making the A-School/ C-School could more heavily to their credit once our solders are have retire or have gotten out of the service. It will help them to make that transfer to civilian life a little more seem less as begin their new jobs outside the service.