Ixian
Well-known member
Technically the Army National Guard was before it all being in thr 1600s.
Wow, I wasn't aware of that. Actually pretty interesting.
And very in keeping with the American tradition of citizen militia.
Technically the Army National Guard was before it all being in thr 1600s.
Technically the Army National Guard was before it all being in thr 1600s.
Please never tell them that, we have enough interservice dick waving as is.
Interserbive dick waving is how we win wars.Please never tell them that, we have enough interservice dick waving as is.
Maryland guard iircWow, I wasn't aware of that. Actually pretty interesting.
And very in keeping with the American tradition of citizen militia.
This is the fundamental issue with the US military at the moment, that underpins so many issues: the US public do not trust US military leaders/the Pentagon with their lives anymore.
It's also something no recruiting campaign seems willing to address; the campaign is never military leaders asking the US public to trust them with their lives or their families lives, again, when that is where most of the issues originate.
No amount of 'hello fellow kids' 'outreach' will change the underlying lack of trust in leadership.I mean, it'd called outreach.
It's normal for them to do this.
Always has been.
What do you think ads, going to schools etc was?
Outreach
No amount of 'hello fellow kids' 'outreach' will change the underlying lack of trust in leadership.
The military doesn't have the luxury of trying to just cater to it's 'traditional' recruit pool anymore, if it wants to keep up force numbers.Let's be honest, most young people who would traditionally be interested in military service aren't using tiktok or youtube shorts that much anyway.
In short the idiots at the Pentagon are advising to the wrong people.
Obviously... But there is this saying, too many chiefs and not enough Indians...The military doesn't have the luxury of trying to just cater to it's 'traditional' recruit pool anymore, if it wants to keep up force numbers.
Trying to preach to a smaller and smaller choir won't produce the desired results, and well...the Air Force isn't hurting that bad, compared to the Army and Navy.
Plus, well, a lot of young people have no desire to deal with enlisted-level bullshit, and want to be officers; that's why enlisted heavy services are suffering more than officer heavy services like the Air Force. Officers have better posting options, better retirement security, better QoL, and are able to segway in to politics or public office much easier than enlisted, if they learn to play the game of officer level politics correctly.
There is just more earning and power potential in officer tracks than in being even senior enlisted.
I think that one is an even bigger problem than the above. If the military was willing to offer a career path free of the more annoying modern civilian workplace annoyances, particularly of legal and political nature, it would have its own niche of interested people just by nature of that. That's a politician solvable problem.Add in corportism taking hold in the military with regards to promotions and qualifications, and it the military life has lost most of the old glory and glamor it used to have.
Nothing says it can't be both.The US military's PR and self-image is based on a lot of people telling generals what they want to hear about why recruiting numbers are down, blaming the populace for not being patriotic enough or too fat or what-have-you, and they never want to look in the mirror or across the Potomac to the real reasons.
The military doesn't have the luxury of trying to just cater to it's 'traditional' recruit pool anymore, if it wants to keep up force numbers.
Trying to preach to a smaller and smaller choir won't produce the desired results, and well...the Air Force isn't hurting that bad, compared to the Army and Navy.
Plus, well, a lot of young people have no desire to deal with enlisted-level bullshit, and want to be officers; that's why enlisted heavy services are suffering more than officer heavy services like the Air Force. Officers have better posting options, better retirement security, better QoL, and are able to segway in to politics or public office much easier than enlisted, if they learn to play the game of officer level politics correctly.
There is just more earning and power potential in officer tracks than in being even senior enlisted.
Add in corportism taking hold in the military with regards to promotions and qualifications, and it the military life has lost most of the old glory and glamor it used to have.
The US military's PR and self-image is based on a lot of people telling generals what they want to hear about why recruiting numbers are down, blaming the populace for not being patriotic enough or too fat or what-have-you, and they never want to look in the mirror or across the Potomac to the real reasons.
That's a really bad idea.I wonder if even the migrants that are coming to the US would not want to sign up in exchange for a green card as well. Legally or illegally.
Enlisted pilots, even enlisted transport pilots, threaten the country club mentality of most Air Force pilot ranks and the credential-ism of of the Air Force command structure. Air Force Enlisted are the ground crews and security personnel, and the backseaters sometimes on the large planes.Obviously... But there is this saying, too many chiefs and not enough Indians...
That sounds like less of an enlisted problem in itself but more of a general money problem.
Let's be honest, 99% of officers will never get into politics anyway, and in the end, someone in the military has to do the "enlisted jobs" anyway (at least many of them, there could be some potential for automation or reorganization), no matter what you call them.
Point in case, back in the days of larger aircraft numbers there were many enlisted pilots. If there was such an option now, i'm sure there would be many volunteers, and they wouldn't give a damn if they get an officer rank or not.
The politicians in DC generally don't want to change things like the military going corporate, due to contractors and contractor donations to campaigns, or the 'up or out' issues, and definitely aren't trying to slow the woken-ing/trans-ing of the US military.I think that one is an even bigger problem than the above. If the military was willing to offer a career path free of the more annoying modern civilian workplace annoyances, particularly of legal and political nature, it would have its own niche of interested people just by nature of that. That's a politician solvable problem.
Oh, it's a wide range of factors, but a lot of them are not ones the generals and admirals and Congresscritters want to hear from the PR people when they ask why recruiting is down.Nothing says it can't be both.
If the military and the politicians were willing to lower their standards so much that many of those would qualify, they wouldn't have the problem in the first place.I wonder if even the migrants that are coming to the US would not want to sign up in exchange for a green card as well. Legally or illegally.
Still, that's an example of MOS that doesn't struggle for volunteers at all. It's less about rank, more the job, associated benefits and pay.Enlisted pilots, even enlisted transport pilots, threaten the country club mentality of most Air Force pilot ranks and the credential-ism of of the Air Force command structure. Air Force Enlisted are the ground crews and security personnel, and the backseaters sometimes on the large planes.
Lots more wannabe-pilots than open slots, even with the bad recruiting numbers for the military, and you can trust enlisted with a lot of things, but aircraft aren't so simple anymore that Congress wants enlisted flyers.
GOP could afford to do some of it politically.The politicians in DC generally don't want to change things like the military going corporate, due to contractors and contractor donations to campaigns, or the 'up or out' issues, and definitely aren't trying to slow the woken-ing/trans-ing of the US military.
So anything that requires a political wind change in DC effectively is 'unfixable', and thus likely to remain a systemic level issue.
Pilot's license qualification is also the big draw; cheaper, sometimes faster, to get it via the military, who pay for you to learn, than civie channels in many regards, where you pay to learn out of pocket.Still, that's an example of MOS that doesn't struggle for volunteers at all. It's less about rank, more the job, associated benefits and pay.
That would require the GOP to have control of all three branches at once.GOP could afford to do some of it politically.
Yeah, getting a pilots licence is not cheap. It's $15-20k for a private pilots licence.Pilot's license qualification is also the big draw; cheaper, sometimes faster, to get it via the military, who pay for you to learn, than civie channels in many regards, where you pay to learn out of pocket.
And we've both seen how supporting something as truly righteous and worthy as helping Ukraine is still a rather controversial issue with some people, where many thought it would be a bipartisan/non-partisan issue. So fixing the issues that are the root of recruiting shortfall is likely to be much, much harder than it should, even if the GoP got the stars to align again and grab all 3 branches.