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/