The Air Force will miss its annual enlisted recruiting goal across all three components for the first time since 1999, according to the head of the recruiting division.
The active duty Air Force reached 90% of its goal of 26,877 enlisted recruits, about 2,700 short of what it needs, according to Air Force Times. The Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard fared are also short, with 30% shortfalls in each component. The Reserve had set a goal of recruiting 9,300 and the Guard aimed at enlisting 11,745 airmen.
It’s not a complete surprise to the top brass. In March, Air Force Secretary Scott Kendall told a group that the Air Force would miss the goal by 10%, and six months later he appears to be spot on.
“We are swimming upstream against a reduced propensity to serve nationally across the board and a limited percentage of qualified candidates,” Kendall said in March.
Kendall continued to soften the news throughout the year. In June, he said the Air Force was working on ways of managing the situation.
“We have things that we can do to manage our way through this, so we’re not in any kind of crisis,” Kendall said at the Center for New American Security on June 22, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine.
According to some, young people have more economic opportunities right now, with a job market begging for anyone willing to work. Eligible recruits are in shorter supply than in past generations, as many young people are obese, have been on psychotropic or therapeutic drugs, use illegal drugs, or have a history of breaking the law.
Leftists say the military is racist and does not promote females.
Those on the right say the military has become too focused on identity politics, and does not value the fighting and patriotic traits of warriors.
Trust in institutions in general is also at a low point in America. Some potential warriors do not trust the government and won’t join a military that has become politicized with woke politics and suspect leaders.
Play stupid ‘woke’ games, win stupid ‘woke’ prizes.
I’m surprised that virtually ANYONE is willing to join the degenerate culture of the US armed forces of today.
I agree with you 💯
Lets see, US military has always relied disproportionately on White males from the South to fill their recruitment quotas. This is a problem for Democrats. They need to replace these soldiers with non-english speaking immigrants, oops I mean ‘dreamers’, that will happily shoot US citizens on command when they protest stolen elections too loudly.
Democrats decide slap them collectively in the face by removing the names of their Confederate forebears from every single installation, building and ship. Famous posts such as Fort Bragg and Fort Benning – gone. Republicans didn’t even put up fight, because, well – they are Republicans. They just want to feed at the trough for as long as possible and then retire to the golf course.
Then White southerners refuse to sign up – inconveniently when Democrats are eager to start a profitable war with Russia. Maybe they can replace them with cadres of Basketball Americans eager to die for Pelosi’s bank account? Or are black simply too busy running down and murdering 65-year old retirees, like Andreas Probst?
Mostly, one must pass a UI. APD and the Troopers have the same problem. Drug addiction is the new normal amongst our youth, and little is being done to discourage it. In fact, many states have made it legal.
At some point the military may have to adjust in relation to some drugs.
At some point, the military is going to have to USE drugs in order to retain its members.
Hard to find people willing to make the sacrifices necessary for Biden’s clown show military.
I know several vets who are frank they would not volunteer to serve under this CIC and his nonsensical military.
Termination dust is already on the high hills in the Chugach. Some suggestions for this interlude between summer and a snowy winter might include a walk in the woods, contemplation of the autumn color changes, looking out over the Knik Inlet to what’s beyond the horizon from a height above the rooftops, listening to departing loons for southern Pacific winter grounds, and squabbling trumpeter swans readying for their trips south to Cordova and Washington State. If in bear country, make sure to use standard personal safety recommendations, i.e. travel with a companion, let others know where you’re going, etc. It’s the time of year when mosquito levels are low, so bugs shouldn’t be too much of an encumbrance.
Whatever factors seem to be resulting in less Air Force recruitment, they are temporary and man-made, and those will pass. The bar-tailed godwits have started their 7,000 mile journeys to summer vacation spots in the southern hemisphere, with no plans for stopovers until they reach their destination in New Zealand. My mother was an Air Force recruiter in the early 1950s; military recruitment has its ups and downs. Color-blindness runs in the family, which impacted my brothers, or they’d have joined the AF instead of the Marine Corps or Army. They serve, as well my sister, an Army nurse, who joined the PHS on discharge. The current news coverage of the hold-up on promotions by a politician, someone who never served, is only one factor.
Flying airplanes is way cool. Being forced to watch drag shows and being forced to be an “approving” audience for the chicom obidenator are enough to turn off the most ardent aviation enthusiast. And yeah, a culture that approves/encourages anything but sobriety will shun the military. Do we really want to trust a billion dollar airplane to a pothead? Drugs and leftist politics are why we lost Vietnam.
The vets I know would take great exception to the false claim we “lost” Vietnam. We never lost a major engagement, made the Vietnamese navy and Air Force irreverent, and inflicted losses of the North it took two generations to recover.
We walked away, we didn’t lose.
You really need to leave the bong alone.
Maybe they should do like the Navy and use drag queens for recruiting.
No surprise here – why would anyone want to join the woke military today? At least in the private sector (in addition to getting paid more and not getting shot at) if my company wants to shove a bunch of wokeness down my throat I can make the decision to quit.
I’m reminded of a video on Youtube that circulated several months ago comparing the recruiting videos for the Chinese, Russian and American armies. The best comment read: “The Chinese video made me want to join the Chinese army, the Russian video made me want to join the Russian army, and the American video made me want to join the Chinese or the Russian army.”
“…….why would anyone want to join the woke military today?……..”
Leftist culture-killers might want to in order to complete their seizure of control and ability to kill off conservatives.
I’m retired from the Marines. My oldest son has done almost 8 years in the Corps and plans on getting out due to the BS woke crap and poor leadership from the higher ups. I’m asking my youngest, who is a senior in HS, this year to not join.
Both of my sons went through the Military youth academy took the asvab tests and are constantly hounded weekly to join amd I cant print the foul language they use when explaining to the recruiters why they absolutely will not serve under a misguided degenerate “hasbeen” commander in thief.
No way any normal person would sigh up to be forced into experimental drug use getting no support and getting killed by sloppy withdraw from a battlefield being told you can’t say girl or boy. I would tell everybody run from our woke government.
We are still to serve whatever occupation is called. If todays families of GenZ have young men and young women called to join one of the branches. Don’t talk them out if it. Just because something appears to be falling apart doesn’t mean we stop serving. All our God needs ‘Is a Few Good Men’ -Suzanne and Barry Jennings
So you join. Put your body where your hypocrisy is.
They should try not forcing their members to take experimental drugs that don’t do anything positive and are likely very harmful. That might help recruitment. And, maybe, stop forcing normal service members to live, work and deploy with mentally ill sexual deviants. That’d probably help too.
Whatever factors seem to be resulting in less Air Force recruitment, they are temporary and man-made, and those will pass. The current news coverage of the hold-up on promotions by a politician, someone who never served, is only one factor.
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