TAMPA, Fla. — At a time when the world’s hot spots like Ukraine, Russia and the Middle East are heating up with conflict, most military branches are consistently falling short of recruitment goals.
Despite bigger bonuses, relaxed policies and a new marketing campaign, Uncle Sam is having a difficult time reaching the next generation.
But it's not for a lack of trying. In recent years, the Army has revamped its '80s slogan, "Be All You Can Be.” It also loosened tattoo policies and drug testing.
Meanwhile, the Navy offered new record-high financial incentives—in some cases up to $140,000.
Despite all of this, only two branches—the Marine Corps., and Space Force—met their recruiting goals for 2023. The Army, Navy and Air Force all fell short.
“Well, the Marine Corps actually met its recruitment goals. So, I think our message resonates with young people of America. But in a larger and larger sense, we're right to be worried about this,” explained retired Four-Star General Frank McKenzie.
McKenzie served as the Commander of CentCom at MacDill. He led deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan and now he's the Executive Director of the Global and National Security Institute at USF.
“We know it's the influencers, the parents, the coaches, the ministers, that interact with young people at that critical time where they're making decisions as they leave high school, about what they want to do and whether or not they're going to be willing to take up national service,” said General McKenzie
“The pool of eligible recruits is smaller than ever before,” said retired Major General Robert Dees.
He continued, “The perception of wokeness and more interest in critical race theory than in military training, turns a lot of recruits off.”
General Dees is now a specialist on national security issues. He believes the current political climate may be contributing to the lack of interest.
General Dees said he wants a military that's prepared for whatever the future may bring.
“In times of national crisis, we even would go back to conscription in the draft. So, all of these factors affect those readiness postures of our US armed forces.”
Meanwhile, David, who is a veteran, told ABC Action News that he believes the armed forces are trying to reach an audience that doesn't want to be reached.
“I'd say that the next generation doesn't necessarily grow up with the same sense of service. Serving is a selfless act. And do we have a selfless generation right now? Probably not,” explained David.
And yet, remember the Marine Corps., which is arguably the hardest journey of the five branches, still managed to meet its recruitment quota.
“The Marine Corps. recruits on the basis that it's a challenge. And sometimes I think we forget that young people, young Americans, did like a challenge,” explained General McKenzie.
Just this week, the Air Force and Space Force both raised their maximum enlistment age to 42 as a result of missing their recruiting targets.
