Posted on Apr 17, 2023
Can America sustain an all volunteer military?
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Amidst a recruiting and retention crisis, the question arises. Are the quality and quantity of the American force enough to maintain our status in the world, or even effectively defend the nation?
Volunteer
Recruiting
DoD
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 10
I think you'll have an answer if you flip the question around - Can American sustain anything else but an all volunteer military.
As Lt Col Charlie Brown said, I don't think the country has the will for a draft these days. Societal values have changed markedly over the last decade.
My concern is not that we'll be able to sustain an all volunteer military. My concern is that we will do a significant change to our defense-planning model that is driven by our resources and not the threat (classic example of 'the tail wagging the dog').
As Lt Col Charlie Brown said, I don't think the country has the will for a draft these days. Societal values have changed markedly over the last decade.
My concern is not that we'll be able to sustain an all volunteer military. My concern is that we will do a significant change to our defense-planning model that is driven by our resources and not the threat (classic example of 'the tail wagging the dog').
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CPT Lawrence Cable
The recruit problem is to a degree self inflicted and they are making changes to accommodate reality that really just goes back to how things were at the start of the non-draft Army. When I enlisted in 1982, no one cared if you smoked pot before you joined, you didn't have to make weight at MEPS and they had remedial platoons for those that were overweight or just crapped out on the initial APFT. Even BSEP had a different purpose back then.
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MAJ Montgomery Granger
I agree with your assessment, Sir. If we do not focus on lethality on the battlefield, we will surely fail to meet our needs in that regard.
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We had better figure it out as I don't think we have the will to push the draft back into being...unless we were actually attacked...and perhaps not even then.
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There is always a slump after any long term engagement. I think that the low numbers are concerning but more concerning would be the start of a new draft. I think we would see some serious issues with that and they would quickly surpass anything we see with low recruiting numbers in some of the branches.
This isn't something you can just buy away with signing bonuses or something you can be woke enough to solve like that awful recruiting campaign the ARMY did a while back. The Marine Corps meet's it's goals and they don't offer much to new recruits other than a keychain, shirt and a chance to be one of the Few/Proud. Marine Recruiters have always been pretty rough to applicants in comparison to the other services. Applicants see the theater of it and know when they are being shined.
This isn't something you can just buy away with signing bonuses or something you can be woke enough to solve like that awful recruiting campaign the ARMY did a while back. The Marine Corps meet's it's goals and they don't offer much to new recruits other than a keychain, shirt and a chance to be one of the Few/Proud. Marine Recruiters have always been pretty rough to applicants in comparison to the other services. Applicants see the theater of it and know when they are being shined.
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