What should we do to encourage the next generation to serve?

RallyPoint News
We do not need a "WOKE" military. We need desperately to teach tactics instead of pronoun usage!!!

I see this as a different question than others about how does DoD improve recruitment (the military reaching out to prospective recruits) and is more of a personal question for each of us (“Johnny, let me tell you why joining the military is a ….”). I know there are some (many?) that will probably post comments along the lines of “I would never tell them to join because …” but will take the ‘debate club’ approach where I’m defending a position regardless if I agree with it or not.

It all starts with two things – having an open and honest dialogue and understanding you audience.

Millennials aren’t the future of the military, they ARE the military (about 3/4s of the military are in the Millennial generation). Generation Z are the ones that are joining now (the oldest are in their mid-20s) and to understand how you would encourage them, you have to understand their motivations and experiences.

The Gen-Z generation grew up on social media and spend an average of more than eight hours a day online. The vast majority (~70%) are focused on financial security and having a successful career and access to comprehensive healthcare is a top priority.

One part of encouragement will always be highlighting the material advantages of service, even for those that are just contemplating doing an initial enlistment and leaving the force. Educate them about the benefits and opportunities of military service, such as skills training, education assistance, and especially the comprehensive health care that comes for they and their families.

Every year we get those Personal Statement of Military Compensation (PSMC) from DFAS telling you how much your pay and compensation are worth (or you could use the Regular Military Compensation (RMC) Calculator* from DoD). I used to chuckle at all that hypothetical compensation I received until I actually started taking advantage of some. I then began to appreciate those additional items of compensation more and more.

Another is the non-material advantages. Regardless of one’s feelings towards changes that are happening in the military, the core values of the military (DoD’s core values) are still leadership, professionalism, technical know-how, duty, integrity, ethics, honor, courage, and loyalty and these are values that are consistently rated very highly as positive and important ones to Generation Z.

Yes, there is a down side of joining the military. You have to be frank in addressing their concerns and questions about military life, such as deployment, combat, family separation and eventual transition back to civilian life.

If there’s one thing Gen-Zers get high marks for, it’s being able to sense when they are being ‘sold a bill of goods’. Keep the discussion open and honest and don’t try to hide any of the ‘bad stuff’ because it might discourage them.

Military life is not for everyone, but that doesn’t mean that everyone shouldn’t consider if it is right for them.
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* PSMC explained - http://www.militarylifeplanning.com/much-military-pay-really-worth/
* RMC Calculator - https://militarypay.defense.gov/calculators/rmc-calculator/

Look until its safe for a woman to serve or a LGBT individual to serve you ate not going to get people to join. I have 2 grandsons and 2 granddaughters and I would not reccomend that they join especially my granddaughters. I do not want to see them sexually assaulted which is what will happen if they were to join.

Then there is how people are treated after serving for injuries sustained during their service.


The military best get its act together or we won't have enough folks to fight a skirmish.

Stay with the basics: three square meals, free apartments (though with roommates), free college, health and mental care, get to play with heavy equipment, a unique fitness program, no one cares if you cuss at each other, fart or shower together, get to shoot weapons and blow things up.
This is a lit' bit sarcastic but we are talking about mostly 18 years old that want to leave home and have never had to fend for themselves. They are mostly in need of some life-structure and discipline.

Respect their choices rather than condemn. The person you really need for the job could be someone discriminated against because of choices that don’t affect job performance. Look for the problem solvers, the helpers, those who grew up with code as their first language, Covid really separated people. This is a chance to come together, work as a team, test ideas and be recognized for your accomplishments. Seeing the world is just part of it. The best part are the friends you will make, who will forever have your six. Even if 20 years go by, these friendships can be picked up through the commonality of shared experiences. Make a difference in the world, one additional note: acknowledge that sexual assault is happening and don’t sweep it under the good ole boys rug, a suicide from MST is just as dead as a death on the battlefield. If what I see on RP reflects the current military, it is obvious why no one wants to join except some legacies.

Our society today is not keen on war and believe it is unnecessary. I think it would be smart to encourage people to join the military through humanitarian efforts. People want to help and make a difference in a positive and rewarding way. Humanitarian deployments might encourage another group of society to join.

I recruited for the Marine Corps for three years and I can tell you from experience that most people want the same basic things. They want a job they can excel in, they want to make decent money, and they want assurance that what they’re doing is going to set them up for future success. If you can show the next generation how the military can help them obtain those things, then I believe you’ll have more success recruiting them.

I do believe that Generation Z and any other generation would join if there were not so many leaders in our military branches that have no respect for lower enlisted. I myself was harassed from my supervisor verbally and constantly. You hear of these types of stories all the time. Abusing of their rank is so common. As a SNCO that is the first I promised myself I would never do is treat others as if they are not worth much. We lack motivation in all our units and many are leaving early not reenlisting because of how they are treated by their leadership. Who is going to want to join the military in toxic environments. Thankfully I left that toxic unit who would not promote me because I wasn't in the goodole boy club. 1 month later in my new unit I was promoted. I saw many great leaders get pushed out because they actually cared about the lower enlisted. They forced people out by giving them such a hard time. We still have many toxic leaders in our military branches. I have many friends in many units in all branches and it's the same Ole thing.

Advertisement of the melting pot experience in the military. That was my greatest admiration when I joined. No matter what our differences were, we all supported the one goal given to us by our higher command.