Recruitment

What Is Causing The Recruiting Crisis Among the Military and Police?

And How Can We Change The Narrative So More People Would Want To Join?

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Multiple news articles came out today saying that the Army is going to be cutting its forces by 24,000 due to recruiting shortfalls.

The Air Force missed its recruiting goals for the first time since 1999 this year.

The Marine Corps just barely made their recruitment goals.

The Navy missed their goal by nearly 10,000.

The Coast Guard missed their recruiting goals by about 4800.

And police shortages are rampant throughout the country.

But why is this occurring? What is happening in this country that the call to serve is no longer being heard?

Why?

For the police front, I feel like a lot of it has to do with a couple of different fronts. For one thing, you had issues such as the “Defund the Police” movement, which would make recruitment difficult since they wouldn’t be able to get the resources they need.

And then from another angle, you also have the outside viewpoints on police officers. Due to the actions of the few, many have stopped supporting all of our men and women in blue. Why would someone want to do a job that is already dangerous when they are going to be hated for doing it, or they will have their hands tied when they need to use force?

As far as the military goes, I believe that Americans have lost their confidence in the military. Losing the Afghanistan war (which was evident by the complete failure of the withdrawal from the area) will drop the confidence level in their abilities to win a war.

And then you can see that many of the branches are lowering their standards, where the physical appearance of a lot of the people in uniform right now are complete jokes.

What happened to making sure that Servicemembers looked professional while in uniform? Which means fitting in their uniforms, having their hair neat (both on their heads and their faces), and maintaining that UNIFORMITY that they were meant to have.

You now see males with their hair completely crazy and beards not even trimmed up, claiming religious freedom, and then women (and some men) who are wearing ponytails, earrings, and colored nails in uniform. And don’t even get me started on the lack of height and weight standards!

When you put on a uniform, you should look professional and UNIFORM with the other Servicemembers you serve with. You are not supposed to be an individual. You are supposed to be a unit, part of a machine, where everyone does their part to make it work.

The military has lost that. And the type of people that would have joined the military a decade ago are seeing that…and are walking the other way.

So How Do We Fix It?

One word…STANDARDS.

If you want to have the American people start to respect the uniforms again, you have to reinstate the highest standards.

Stop bringing social issues into the fight…police need better training and need to get back to the concept of both protecting and SERVING the community. The job of police isn’t just to protect the community, but to serve it as well.

Cops won’t even help someone with a flat tire or with unlocking a car anymore, because their priorities are elsewhere. But those are the little things that bring more respect to the uniform and make it so people will be more likely to call on them when they need to.

And for the military…as you can see from my previous section, I have a very firm opinion about this.

STANDARDS STANDARDS STANDARDS. The military has lost them. They have allowed the politics to infiltrate the uniformed branches and turn them into a circus.

You want to get recruitment up? Have that badass Ranger with multiple deployments and the highest PT scores out there recruiting!

No one wants to be recruited by a fat old recruiter with a scruffy beard and their hair all crazy. They want to be recruited by what they picture as the epitome of what a Soldier should be. People who are showing that they are strong, professional, and capable.

Conclusion

I have the greatest respect for our men and women in uniform. They are heroes. And for those that are still voluntarily entering the service, kudos to you!

My best advice is to maintain the highest standards and avoid getting sucked into the politics and social drama.

The next war is not going to be won by the military with the most inclusive policies…it is going to be won by the military with the strongest and most professional Servicemembers.

Do you agree? Have you noticed a difference between the military of today versus the military of even a decade ago? Do you think it is better or worse? Let me know what you think!

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