Posted on Jan 26, 2023
What can the DOD do to overcome its recruitment challenges?
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Most agree that the All-Volunteer Force (AVF) is facing historic and possibly unprecedented recruiting challenges. As the AVF turns 50 this July, military and congressional leaders are diagnosing the contributing causes and producing strategies to address them.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, summarized the problem last fall at an oversight hearing she chaired as head of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel.
“By the end of 2022, the active U.S. military will be at its smallest size since the creation of the All-Volunteer Force for which we mark the 50th anniversary next year,” Gillibrand said in opening the Sept. 21 hearing, where service branch officials testified. “All four military services here today have signaled significant concerns about the strength of their recruiting operations and their prospects for success in 2023.”
Why is this the case? Department of Defense (DOD) officials and lawmakers debated some reasons and solutions at December’s Reagan National Defense Forum. The Washington, D.C., event featured comments from:
Gen. David Berger, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Gilbert Cisneros, under secretary of defense for Personnel and Readiness.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Democrat of Illinois and an Army reserves Veteran.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, Republican of Wisconsin and a Marine Corps Veteran.
Youth less interested in military service
Observers cite the lower interest among young people to serve in the military as one reason for the recruiting deficiencies.
The fifth annual National Defense Survey, which the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute released in late December 2022, found that just 13% of 18- to 29-year-olds are “highly willing” to join the military, 25% are somewhat willing, 20% are not very willing, and about 26% are not willing at all. These and other results are based on interviews of 2,500 Americans conducted Nov. 9-17, 2022.
Trust in the military down
Fewer Americans say they have faith in the military, the Reagan institute survey also found. Just 48% of surveyed respondents said they had a great deal of trust in the military, compared with 70% who said that four years ago. Majorities said they had less confidence in the performance and competence of commanders-in-chief and the civilian military leadership. Other pollsters such as Gallup have found similar erosions in trust in the military.
The military needs to be creative in addressing these and other structural issues driving shortfalls in recruiting, Berger said at the forum and in an article for the U.S. Naval Institute published in November. This includes a long-term decline in the pool of service-eligible Americans who meet physical fitness and health requirements and who can pass the ASVAB, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test.
All of this is occurring in a society that’s more distant from the military, with fewer Americans having familial or community connections to military culture and careers, Berger wrote.
Negative news about an institution that Americans are less familiar with only saps confidence further, he said.
“If the only thing you know about (the military) is what you see on the news, it may not be good,” Berger said at the forum. In his article, he said other factors that have harmed public trust include the character of withdrawal from Afghanistan, military scandals, reports of military sexual assault, and a sense that military skills aren’t relevant to private-sector success.
Some of these perceptions can be shifted, especially now that recruiters can go back to meeting one-on-one with young people at schools, on campuses and in offices. But the old recruiter’s playbook won’t work, Berger and other panelists argued.
Service appeals that resonate with a new generation
Reversing trends in youths’ willingness to serve requires new recruiting strategies and messages that appeal to Generation Z, a cohort that Pew Research Center defines as those born between 1997-2012.
“Simply increasing the advertising budget to amplify existing narratives is unlikely to be effective in the future,” Berger wrote. “The services need new narratives and new vehicles for communicating those narratives.”
One way the military can break through to this generation is to showcase the benefits of military service. “We talk about service and what it does for the country,” Berger said, but less about “what it does for the individual.”
The military can do a better job communicating how even a few years of service can build skills that last a lifetime, he said. And it can demonstrate that service increases a person’s currency in the civilian job market.
Employers want to hire former service members, Berger said, because they know “they’re better citizens, they’re better employees.”
Duckworth said it’s also important to reach the parents of Gen Z, highlighting how service is a viable career path: Their kids “gain lots of experiences” in the military and “they’re going to be ahead of their peers when they come out in terms of a job.”
“That,” she said, is something “I don’t think we’re doing a good job of messaging to the American people.”
The senator noted that most people can understand how an Air Force pilot or medic has a path to a post-military career in aviation or health care. But the public may be less aware of other stepping stones that military service can provide.
Cisneros echoed this, arguing that potential recruits should know that the military can train them for other high-demand and well-paying jobs, including in trades such as in HVAC.
Make the AVF more permeable
The military needs to change how it operates to encourage more people to serve. Berger said it should be “easier to move between active duty and reserve in the civilian sector.”
“We have to make it a much more permeable All-Volunteer Force than we have (had) in the past,” he said. “People should be able to step out for two or three or four years, come back in.”
This would familiarize more people with the military, furthering heightening interest in service, he said.
Other ideas to boost recruiting
Other ideas for improving recruitment mentioned by panelists and in the article included:
Allowing the military to tap private-sector talent without requiring a full-fledged service commitment.
Replicating an Army “pre-boot-camp”-type pilot program that’s preparing young people physically and academically for military service.
Creating more opportunities for women and people of diverse backgrounds to succeed in the military.
Taking better care of service personnel and families by addressing food insecurity and other military quality-of-life issues.
Reforming leave policies to make it easier for women to serve.
Making sure the lower ranks can bring forth policy-change ideas.
Addressing generational gaps in recruitment planning so that strategies keep pace with social change and are relevant to the next generation of service members.
Learn more
Watch the forum discussion: https://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan-institute/programs/reagan-national-defense-forum/rndf-2022
Read Berger’s piece: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2022/november/recruiting-requires-bold-changes
Watch the Senate hearing: https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/to-receive-testimony-on-the-status-of-military-recruiting-and-retention-efforts-across-the-department-of-defense
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, summarized the problem last fall at an oversight hearing she chaired as head of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel.
“By the end of 2022, the active U.S. military will be at its smallest size since the creation of the All-Volunteer Force for which we mark the 50th anniversary next year,” Gillibrand said in opening the Sept. 21 hearing, where service branch officials testified. “All four military services here today have signaled significant concerns about the strength of their recruiting operations and their prospects for success in 2023.”
Why is this the case? Department of Defense (DOD) officials and lawmakers debated some reasons and solutions at December’s Reagan National Defense Forum. The Washington, D.C., event featured comments from:
Gen. David Berger, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Gilbert Cisneros, under secretary of defense for Personnel and Readiness.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Democrat of Illinois and an Army reserves Veteran.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, Republican of Wisconsin and a Marine Corps Veteran.
Youth less interested in military service
Observers cite the lower interest among young people to serve in the military as one reason for the recruiting deficiencies.
The fifth annual National Defense Survey, which the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute released in late December 2022, found that just 13% of 18- to 29-year-olds are “highly willing” to join the military, 25% are somewhat willing, 20% are not very willing, and about 26% are not willing at all. These and other results are based on interviews of 2,500 Americans conducted Nov. 9-17, 2022.
Trust in the military down
Fewer Americans say they have faith in the military, the Reagan institute survey also found. Just 48% of surveyed respondents said they had a great deal of trust in the military, compared with 70% who said that four years ago. Majorities said they had less confidence in the performance and competence of commanders-in-chief and the civilian military leadership. Other pollsters such as Gallup have found similar erosions in trust in the military.
The military needs to be creative in addressing these and other structural issues driving shortfalls in recruiting, Berger said at the forum and in an article for the U.S. Naval Institute published in November. This includes a long-term decline in the pool of service-eligible Americans who meet physical fitness and health requirements and who can pass the ASVAB, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test.
All of this is occurring in a society that’s more distant from the military, with fewer Americans having familial or community connections to military culture and careers, Berger wrote.
Negative news about an institution that Americans are less familiar with only saps confidence further, he said.
“If the only thing you know about (the military) is what you see on the news, it may not be good,” Berger said at the forum. In his article, he said other factors that have harmed public trust include the character of withdrawal from Afghanistan, military scandals, reports of military sexual assault, and a sense that military skills aren’t relevant to private-sector success.
Some of these perceptions can be shifted, especially now that recruiters can go back to meeting one-on-one with young people at schools, on campuses and in offices. But the old recruiter’s playbook won’t work, Berger and other panelists argued.
Service appeals that resonate with a new generation
Reversing trends in youths’ willingness to serve requires new recruiting strategies and messages that appeal to Generation Z, a cohort that Pew Research Center defines as those born between 1997-2012.
“Simply increasing the advertising budget to amplify existing narratives is unlikely to be effective in the future,” Berger wrote. “The services need new narratives and new vehicles for communicating those narratives.”
One way the military can break through to this generation is to showcase the benefits of military service. “We talk about service and what it does for the country,” Berger said, but less about “what it does for the individual.”
The military can do a better job communicating how even a few years of service can build skills that last a lifetime, he said. And it can demonstrate that service increases a person’s currency in the civilian job market.
Employers want to hire former service members, Berger said, because they know “they’re better citizens, they’re better employees.”
Duckworth said it’s also important to reach the parents of Gen Z, highlighting how service is a viable career path: Their kids “gain lots of experiences” in the military and “they’re going to be ahead of their peers when they come out in terms of a job.”
“That,” she said, is something “I don’t think we’re doing a good job of messaging to the American people.”
The senator noted that most people can understand how an Air Force pilot or medic has a path to a post-military career in aviation or health care. But the public may be less aware of other stepping stones that military service can provide.
Cisneros echoed this, arguing that potential recruits should know that the military can train them for other high-demand and well-paying jobs, including in trades such as in HVAC.
Make the AVF more permeable
The military needs to change how it operates to encourage more people to serve. Berger said it should be “easier to move between active duty and reserve in the civilian sector.”
“We have to make it a much more permeable All-Volunteer Force than we have (had) in the past,” he said. “People should be able to step out for two or three or four years, come back in.”
This would familiarize more people with the military, furthering heightening interest in service, he said.
Other ideas to boost recruiting
Other ideas for improving recruitment mentioned by panelists and in the article included:
Allowing the military to tap private-sector talent without requiring a full-fledged service commitment.
Replicating an Army “pre-boot-camp”-type pilot program that’s preparing young people physically and academically for military service.
Creating more opportunities for women and people of diverse backgrounds to succeed in the military.
Taking better care of service personnel and families by addressing food insecurity and other military quality-of-life issues.
Reforming leave policies to make it easier for women to serve.
Making sure the lower ranks can bring forth policy-change ideas.
Addressing generational gaps in recruitment planning so that strategies keep pace with social change and are relevant to the next generation of service members.
Learn more
Watch the forum discussion: https://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan-institute/programs/reagan-national-defense-forum/rndf-2022
Read Berger’s piece: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2022/november/recruiting-requires-bold-changes
Watch the Senate hearing: https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/to-receive-testimony-on-the-status-of-military-recruiting-and-retention-efforts-across-the-department-of-defense
United States Senate
Recruit
Training
Recruiting
DoD
Posted 2 mo ago
Responses: 28
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It has ups and downs- now the woke crap is in the majority- have no love of country, nor giving for somebody else. Brainwashed, coupled with the fact so many are so out of shape, they are a heart attack waiting to happen. Don't forget parents unable to raise their kids, and send them to drug land. land
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PO2 Candi Jones
I'm waiting on someone to explain to me what being woke is supposed to be. I told all 3 of my sons they better not even think about going into the military. I lost a son due to poor treatment from the military. No care during pregnancy. Completely ignored. If there has become an understanding that people who were at January 6 were supposed to be defending this country, no one wants to serve with them. They're smiling in your face waiting to stab you in the back. I don't want to serve where I'm treated the same as in the civilian world. There's no equality across the board. And I'm not talking about men and women.
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SPC Tommy Helton
PO2 Candi Jones I also tell my children not to join the military. It was a miserable experience, but we weren’t his divided then. We didn’t talk politics. Most of our problems were watching higher ranking individuals, pencil whip a PT test. Also, people who shouldn’t be there clogging up slot’s, we had two that were well over 400 pounds. Came from a basic, where Drill Sgt’s slept with recruit’s. I couldn’t recommend it, to anyone
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SrA Michele Burgman
SFC Casey O'Mally - which sources. The joint chief and secdef both said wokeness wasn't a factor.
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SFC Casey O'Mally
SrA Michele Burgman
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2022/10/13/is-the-military-too-woke-to-recruit/
https://www.heritage.org/defense/commentary/the-rise-wokeness-the-military
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/02/23/republicans-double-down-woke-criticism-after-army-says-safety-top-recruiting-challenge.html
https://www.armytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2023/02/23/lawmakers-accuse-army-of-ignoring-woke-policies-that-hurt-recruiting/
https://warontherocks.com/2023/03/addressing-the-u-s-military-recruiting-crisis/
Would you like me to go on? I mean, a simple Google search gets you there. Please note that couple are more obscure references, but military times, army times, and military.com? Those aren't exactly sources unfamiliar with the military or how it works.
As far as SecDef and and other top brass go, OF COURSE they say their own policies aren't to blame. You don't make it to the top by admitting *you* screwed up. And you certainly don't stay there. They published a study about why folks were getting out and then trumpeted that it wasn't about wokeness, as almost no one answered wokeness. But when you drill down, you see that wokeness (or other terms to describe it) wasn't even an option. When you ask a multiple choice question, and don't give wokeness as one of the options, you can't then say that proves wokeness isn't the answer. Despite it not even being an option some people STILL answered wokeness, because they put "other" and then wrote it in.
So, yeah, it is very likely a problem. Not the ONLY problem, as pointed out by SGM Bill Frazer , but still a problem.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2022/10/13/is-the-military-too-woke-to-recruit/
https://www.heritage.org/defense/commentary/the-rise-wokeness-the-military
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/02/23/republicans-double-down-woke-criticism-after-army-says-safety-top-recruiting-challenge.html
https://www.armytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2023/02/23/lawmakers-accuse-army-of-ignoring-woke-policies-that-hurt-recruiting/
https://warontherocks.com/2023/03/addressing-the-u-s-military-recruiting-crisis/
Would you like me to go on? I mean, a simple Google search gets you there. Please note that couple are more obscure references, but military times, army times, and military.com? Those aren't exactly sources unfamiliar with the military or how it works.
As far as SecDef and and other top brass go, OF COURSE they say their own policies aren't to blame. You don't make it to the top by admitting *you* screwed up. And you certainly don't stay there. They published a study about why folks were getting out and then trumpeted that it wasn't about wokeness, as almost no one answered wokeness. But when you drill down, you see that wokeness (or other terms to describe it) wasn't even an option. When you ask a multiple choice question, and don't give wokeness as one of the options, you can't then say that proves wokeness isn't the answer. Despite it not even being an option some people STILL answered wokeness, because they put "other" and then wrote it in.
So, yeah, it is very likely a problem. Not the ONLY problem, as pointed out by SGM Bill Frazer , but still a problem.
Is the military too ‘woke’ to recruit?
There's a lack of hard information on why propensity to serve is falling, and whether there's an ideological shift in attitude toward military service.
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Excellent post. Thank You for sharing this. I think one way would that the Navy never should've came with that High Year Tenure stuff. A lot of active duty Navy Sailors were involuntarily seperated. The same went for the Navy Reserves. I knew a lot of active duty Sailors who were involuntarily seperated. And one E-8 Senior Chied in the Navy Reserves who was involuntarily seperated. Ironically, He was planning to retire as well. The same goes with the active duty Army. They call it Retention Control Program or something by that name. Now, recruiters are having a hard time recruiting individuals.
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I listen to Christian radio and they have interviewed servicemembers who have recently separated from active duty. ALL have said money is being spent on "woke policies". You can't expect people to want to join the military when they know their very faith will be a detriment.
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SrA Michele Burgman
Oh yes, I'm sure a few recently separated service members speak for everyone. Purely anecdotal.
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PO3 Eugene Hildebrand
I'm sure that the christian radio survey was all inclusive. You can put a slant on any survey to show what you want it to show. I highly suggest you broaden your horizons.
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LCpl Rose Shoafstall
Wow. Never thought I'd see these types of hate comments on here. Listen, my comment was merely meant to show that money is being spent on woke policies that have NOTHING to do with being ready to defend our nation. Do you agree or disagree?
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