Posted on Jan 13, 2018
Why don't more people serve? The US is launching a commission to find out
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I apologize if this is getting too political, but unfortunately I think we live in a time where politics is beginning to affect our ability to wage war in unprecedented ways; recruiting, funding, and the widening gap of the civil-military connection writ-large. So if the military as a whole doesn't have conversations about this, I think we are doing ourselves a great disservice in assessing the problem so we can adjust as best we can. This article in particular is about recruiting. I'll briefly share my thoughts on this as a recent college graduate.
Our colleges essentially teach anti-American history. In almost every class, you learn about how the U.S. stole land from the native Americans, was the epicenter of slavery, has meddled in other countries' affairs the world over, and has committed one heinous action or another. The problem is that these professors never put these events in the proper context or highlight any of the good about America along with the bad. There is no balance or nuance in their presentation of America and its history. This erodes young people's willingness to serve our country at a time when they are making important life decisions. So if you want to increase recruiting, I think a great place to start would be more intellectual honesty and intellectual diversity on college campuses from top to bottom. Convincing young people that America is worth fighting for is foundational in getting them to think about a career serving the nation.
Our colleges essentially teach anti-American history. In almost every class, you learn about how the U.S. stole land from the native Americans, was the epicenter of slavery, has meddled in other countries' affairs the world over, and has committed one heinous action or another. The problem is that these professors never put these events in the proper context or highlight any of the good about America along with the bad. There is no balance or nuance in their presentation of America and its history. This erodes young people's willingness to serve our country at a time when they are making important life decisions. So if you want to increase recruiting, I think a great place to start would be more intellectual honesty and intellectual diversity on college campuses from top to bottom. Convincing young people that America is worth fighting for is foundational in getting them to think about a career serving the nation.
Why don't more people serve? The US is launching a commission to find out
Posted from armytimes.com
Recruiting
Army ROTC
Edited 7 y ago
Posted 7 y ago
Responses: 6
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Why don’t more people serve? Great question!
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/01/the-tragedy-of-the-american-military/383516/
This was a good article, somewhat biased, but I’ll make that point later.
I would ask you, why did you join? It sounds like a rhetorical question that you would place in a battalion or brigade headquarters building to motivate new soldiers out of AIT to be undaunted at the new unit they are signing into, finding hope where the platoon sergeant will crush all semblance of hope. Not really, but seeing soldiers the first day is interesting, it’s like the first day of school for some and others rise above the moment because they understand.
The manner in which war is portrayed now is somewhat “normal.” Vietnam was the first time Americans really saw the gruesomeness that is characterized by war. This has a contributing factor for many people that are inept to deal with conflict, but also it has been displayed in most young citizens lives for most of it. Those are individuals that we would like to join! The fact that a 21 year old may remember an older sibling or relative joining after 9/11 or during/post college, but they have a different relationship with the military. Some may not know anyone in the military, surprising, but true. That subscription is a “chickenhawk” subscription, that is not to call them cowardice or anything of the sort, but they have learned to support the war in other ways, by liking a post on Facebook, making a donation to their favorite veteran related charity, watching a movie that exclaims how brave soldiers have been when they did not have to be. All of these options of how to contribute because the quality of life is better here than in most countries.
The quality of life regardless of what problems the people, media, or government is fixated on at the time is still “not bad” to put in lamest terms. The wars that are most famous had the most dire need for citizens to answer the call of duty. At some point the American people began distancing themselves from active participation to participating from afar, not questioning military operations or resolve, but maybe why we were in said operational environment (Afghanistan, Iraq, and etc) in the first place. Now, let’s be honest, people don’t have the longest attention span nowadays and that’s just a fact! As a culture we demand results quickly and expeditiously! We want immediate gratification to feel the stimulation that says we succeeded, I don’t think the American people feel that, why should they, not sure if they’ve swiped right or left. Furthermore, have you seen the advertisements for joining the military???
The way the military is advertised or displayed is SUPER HEROIC!!! I mean we have to put things in a perspective that resembles reality. Most commercials start with some poor 11B type doing something so motivating that it knocks your socks off or just sucking in general. Some commercials are okay, but we have to find a “healthy medium” within this topic of who our selected demographic is and what is the message we are trying to convey, not re-enacting a scene from G.I. JOE. Their are some good ones, but the invincibility theme is sort of misleading.
The military is an untouchable institution within government as far as the American people are concerned. It has been for some time unlike its executive sisters or the legislative branch that is pretty unpopular as a whole. I think we should work on our image with the American people, but also think about how to retain what we have because we are hurting our combat power for the next conflict. We have to be able to communicate with the people who don’t know us COL Mikel J. Burroughs,1LT (Join to see),1LT Kevin Chapman,1LT (Join to see),PFC (Join to see),SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas
I tagged a few service members across the force and who range from a wide spectrum of age and experience. Some have been in forever or retired (SPARTANS!), others are brand new so maybe they will give you idea of why they joined. PFC Taylor I believe is the youngest according to experience and we all know who the most experienced are.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/01/the-tragedy-of-the-american-military/383516/
This was a good article, somewhat biased, but I’ll make that point later.
I would ask you, why did you join? It sounds like a rhetorical question that you would place in a battalion or brigade headquarters building to motivate new soldiers out of AIT to be undaunted at the new unit they are signing into, finding hope where the platoon sergeant will crush all semblance of hope. Not really, but seeing soldiers the first day is interesting, it’s like the first day of school for some and others rise above the moment because they understand.
The manner in which war is portrayed now is somewhat “normal.” Vietnam was the first time Americans really saw the gruesomeness that is characterized by war. This has a contributing factor for many people that are inept to deal with conflict, but also it has been displayed in most young citizens lives for most of it. Those are individuals that we would like to join! The fact that a 21 year old may remember an older sibling or relative joining after 9/11 or during/post college, but they have a different relationship with the military. Some may not know anyone in the military, surprising, but true. That subscription is a “chickenhawk” subscription, that is not to call them cowardice or anything of the sort, but they have learned to support the war in other ways, by liking a post on Facebook, making a donation to their favorite veteran related charity, watching a movie that exclaims how brave soldiers have been when they did not have to be. All of these options of how to contribute because the quality of life is better here than in most countries.
The quality of life regardless of what problems the people, media, or government is fixated on at the time is still “not bad” to put in lamest terms. The wars that are most famous had the most dire need for citizens to answer the call of duty. At some point the American people began distancing themselves from active participation to participating from afar, not questioning military operations or resolve, but maybe why we were in said operational environment (Afghanistan, Iraq, and etc) in the first place. Now, let’s be honest, people don’t have the longest attention span nowadays and that’s just a fact! As a culture we demand results quickly and expeditiously! We want immediate gratification to feel the stimulation that says we succeeded, I don’t think the American people feel that, why should they, not sure if they’ve swiped right or left. Furthermore, have you seen the advertisements for joining the military???
The way the military is advertised or displayed is SUPER HEROIC!!! I mean we have to put things in a perspective that resembles reality. Most commercials start with some poor 11B type doing something so motivating that it knocks your socks off or just sucking in general. Some commercials are okay, but we have to find a “healthy medium” within this topic of who our selected demographic is and what is the message we are trying to convey, not re-enacting a scene from G.I. JOE. Their are some good ones, but the invincibility theme is sort of misleading.
The military is an untouchable institution within government as far as the American people are concerned. It has been for some time unlike its executive sisters or the legislative branch that is pretty unpopular as a whole. I think we should work on our image with the American people, but also think about how to retain what we have because we are hurting our combat power for the next conflict. We have to be able to communicate with the people who don’t know us COL Mikel J. Burroughs,1LT (Join to see),1LT Kevin Chapman,1LT (Join to see),PFC (Join to see),SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas
I tagged a few service members across the force and who range from a wide spectrum of age and experience. Some have been in forever or retired (SPARTANS!), others are brand new so maybe they will give you idea of why they joined. PFC Taylor I believe is the youngest according to experience and we all know who the most experienced are.
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1LT Kevin Chapman
Well, I joined the Army because it’s a family tradition for the guys on my father’s side of the family to serve in the military. I’d be lying if I said this was a dream of mines as a kid, but it wasn’t something I truly embraced until my senior year of high school, when all of my best friends were joining various branches of the Military. Joining the military for me was providing myself to embrace a different challenge, and a way to feel as if I have accomplished something.
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The enlisted ranks are associated with being for the poor, when I know most of my peers came from middle class families. There is a perception that you enlist when you are out of choices not because you want and a trade skill. It goes to Mike Rowe’s awareness campaign that college isn’t always he answer, trades pay well too. Finally, we get shot at actively now. It isn’t a military training for war it is one at war. Granted the odds are in your favor, the news only tells the public the 10 guys who died this week not the 300 that rotated though their deployment and just came home. The 80s and 90s had people join for college, post 9/11 we had patriots join, now we have a generation that wasn’t alive for that event so the wars are just constant with no end and no clear reason at this stage. it is hard to convince people to join to fight a war that started when they were a year old and have no clear enemy or objective.
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Well we are giving new recruits 20,000 dollars as a bonus. So I really can't answer why people aren't enlisting.
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