Young people not volunteering for military
 

Interesting article on the problem with military recruitment.

Any advice as to
1. why it has fallen and
2. how to increase it?

Addressing the U.S. Military Recruiting Crisis - War on the Rocks

The article seemed to cover both of those questions with a good level of detail.

I believe it is cultural. When I turned 18, I knew that college was of no interest to me and going to work in the local large manufacturing plant seemed like jail to me at the time. There was no way my father was going to allow me to live at home for much longer, even if I was employed, so I took the next best option and joined the Navy. It turned out to be the best move ever, as the GI Bill paid for college four years later, and I learned how to be an adult, but I really didn't have much choice. If, like many (probably most) parents today, mine were willing to coddle me, give me a bed and food, wash my clothes, etc., I probably would have stayed home too. Thanks Mom and Dad for your conservative values and willingness to stick to them. It made my life a better place.

You expressed it perfectly. It is definitely a cultural "revolution", a totally new society of keyboard "warriors" desperately attempting to build some measure of self-esteem (yet sadly way too often ending in the desperation of suicide). An interesting observation on this recently in the news. The daughter of the king and queen of Spain, age 17, will soon complete what we here call "high school education", and will be joining her country's military. It is the custom in Spain, that those who are in the line of monarchs, to serve their county before completing further formal education. A princess not addicted to Tic Toc maybe ? ? To say I believe we, as a nation, are headed over the cliff, is an understatement. The "root" ? Well, of course we can blame it on coddling parents, but all the coddling at home is not a more powerful force in forming basic personal philosophy, as is the general agreement of parents to abolish all traces of patriotic pride, teaching of history, and the role of the United States as a leading force for liberty from public school curriculum's. Parents have been given the RESPONSIBILITY to determine what they want to emphasize in THEIR LOCAL SCHOOL'S curriculum. THAT is their responsibility, but most seem to prefer to leave it to the federal government and individual teachers (whose personal lives and philosophy may be FAR from the values, goals, and philosophy of the local area ! That is exactly what our wise forefathers anticipated: a national so large, so vast, so diverse, that a "national" or "federally mandated" public school curriculum would be a disaster.

Patriotic holidays were once a major emphasis at ALL grade levels, kindergarten to high school. Now, they are seldom even mentioned at school, let alone the kind of emphasis most of us experienced as young people: school assemblies, speakers, elementary students made red, white, blue decoration during art period, students who finished a math, English, etc. assignment before other students were always directed to the "extra work" box which held patriot coloring sheets, or word search puzzles with "patriotic" words, etc. When we are more concerned with making sure even very young children learn "pronouns" like "ze" and other gender neutral terms, than we are with junior high and high school students who can not name even 4 of the parts of speech, or have no idea what verb "tense" even is, silly as it may seem to some, I think this all works together (throw in "everyone gets a trophy, the winning team and the losing team) to form the "roots" of why so few are interested in joining a military they have been taught is "evil" !
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As to your question: Why do people insist on making claims without looking them up first, do they really think no one will check? Proof by emphatic assertion rarely works.

IMHO, they do it in a desperate attempt to appear "knowledgeable"; well educated, informed, well read, to feel they have value (in a society that values less and less all the time). YES, absolutely they believe no one will check, and that actually few even have the skills to do more than a surface "scan" of yahoo or twitter feeds for their "facts". Emotional assertion, they DO believe, works, and honestly, watching the "news" from a variety of sources on the various net works, and in print, seems to support the theory that emphatic assertion DOES work, even works WELL. When one insists that individuals entering a country via illegal means are being beaten, whipped, by brutal border guards carrying whips on horseback... and passionately assert that as truth, when any experienced rider, especially of western style neck reining, knows exactly how a rider uses the reins (also spelled "reigns" by some) to control a horse. Would be nearly impossible to control the horse and at the same time use the reins to whip human beings ! If you ride, you know this ! Emphatic assertion ? I think it does work as does "repetition", repeat it enough, no matter how absurd, never stop, and people WILL believe it !

Exactly. We were expected out of the house at 18.

The #1 reason parents move to the villages, there's no basements for kids to live in......:thumbup:

Let's face it...
After the "Greatest Generation" this country has produced and allowed mostly ____.......
......and if you disagree, you are part of the problem! :ho:

Why does the military guarantee a lifetime of support for a soldier and his family, even if he/she never sees any combat action? I think they should recruit people to serve where and when they are needed for a limited term and pay them big bucks. A soldier who serves a deployment in a combat zone should be paid way more than someone sitting behind a desk in the Pentagon, drinking coffee.

You are misinformed VA benefits are for Veterans receiving a disability in line of duty.
Retired Veterans Active or Reserve receive Tri-Care upon completion of service enlistment requirements retirement.
Active duty in War zone receive extra pay also seagoing Sailors receive extra pay. Also Military personnel assigned to isolated duty receive extra pay

Ridiculous blanket accusation.

Conservative values? My folks were liberal but aside from that, you could be telling my story, except my work came from 6 years of Navy schools and experience.

Instead of putting people in Coleman, sentence them to join the military. More effective than prison

I think you have to be convicted of a felony to get into Coleman. Depending on the crime, I would be reluctant to work next to a convicted felon. I wouldn't mind someone convicted of tax evasion but I would prefer not to work with someone convicted of murder.

Jack Henry Abbott - Wikipedia

I served in both the Army Reserves and regular Air Force. Worked out great for me.

No way would I advise anyone to join the military today. Would you want the life of your kid in the hands of a buffoon like Mark Milley?