U.S. Army recruiters have updated their recruitment posters to emphasize the removal of the Covid-19 vaccine mandate, aiming to boost enlistment numbers.
The move comes after the Biden Administration’s vaccine requirement, which was in place since August, 2021, was rescinded in January, 2023, after recruiting numbers had faltered significantly.
The vaccine mandate, lasting only 15 months, marked a unique period in U.S. military history as it was the first time a vaccine requirement was reversed. The mandate’s cancellation was influenced by arguments from many Republicans, who claimed that the mandate negatively impacted military recruitment and retention.
Despite the mandate’s repeal, the response from previously discharged service members has been tepid.
Of the over 8,000 service members who were discharged for refusing the Covid-19 vaccine, only 43 have rejoined the military in the eight months following the repeal. A breakdown of the reenlistment numbers reveals that 19 rejoined the Army, 12 returned to the Marines, while the Navy saw two and Air Force saw one reenlistment. Pilots have been especially reluctant to take the shot because of reports of heart problems that arise as a result of the vaccine, problems that may disqualify them from commanding an aircraft.
Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was forced to remove the requirement due to the passage of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023.
Some who left the military are not returning because the vaccine mandate, combined with an increased emphasis on “woke” values have left them with qualms about serving altogether.
Of course. Military recruitment is way down for all branches and now Biden’s reptilian puppeteers want WAR. Do you think its an accident they have been openly considering reinstating a limited draft?
Zoomer generation is going to be Fortnite-dancing into a hot warzone before they know it.
So the lizard people and moneychangers now desperately need White, Christian recruits to come back and die for Israel. What, did you expect militant black lesbians, ‘pup’ play degenerates and fat MTF trannies to do the heavy lifting in Ukraine? Conservative recruits – never forget these globalists want you dead, but its all the better if they can push their worldview and make some money off your corpse first.
Too bad they’ve been slapping our warrior class – White Southerners – in the face since the Obama years. Maybe they should have thought twice when they renamed Bragg, Benning, and purged the Confederate war dead memorial from Arlington.
Excellent substack article that should have been named “Achilles Shrugged”, according to a clever commenter.
‘https://barsoom.substack.com/p/the-bud-light-military
Spot on, Apu!
Indeed, anyone with any sense, or any traditional values, would have to be insane to join today’s ‘woke’ military, much in the face of the hyper-interventionistic, hyper-warmongering US foreign policy under the Usurper China Joe PotatoHead regime.
Vaccines and/or their requirement are the least of the concern for military recruitment. The major problem is that too many young (and other aged) Americans are fat/obese and lack any discipline in their lives.
I agree with you cman, that many recruitment age Americans are physically not capable to be considered and most have an attitude that speaks more to “what the country can do for them” instead of the other way around. That being said, those young people, who are fit, capable and patriotic, look at how the troops have been treated and the Covid debacle does impact their choices.
That is true as well, although the deterrent to joining the military in that case is coming from the opposite direction, i.e. from the recruit, rather than from the military itself.
We had fat, lazy, effeminate and illiterate men in our BCT unit in the mid-70’s. We started nearly double company strength and the ranks were quickly weeded out, whittled down to fighting force company strength as we progressed. We will survive. Nothing new under the sun.
+100 Apu
I suspect if they try to reinstate the draft, a lot of feminists with blue hair and more piercings than skin will be surprised to find themselves included.
No disrespect to Hal Moore, but if Trump is re elected I hope he reinstates Benning, Bragg, and AP Hill.
We can hope. But Trump also promised to return Mt. McKinley’s official name after Obama showed up and changed it as a PR stunt in 2015. Trump didn’t follow through – because our fake ‘Republican’ congressional delegation (Murkowski/Sullivan) would rather spinelessly pander to the Natives than respect the traditional US naming of a world famous landmark.
I’ve kept the habit of referencing ‘McKinley Park’ or ‘Mount McKinley’ in casual conversation and it predictably annoys certain ‘types’ of people who always insist on correcting you.
“Yeah, we’ll be going up to McKinley Park to install some culverts next month.”
“You mean Denali.”
“Whatever, its just a name, right?”
These are the same types of people that are now feverishly trying to rename dozens of species of birds (like the Stellar’s Jay, or the Lewis Woodpecker) because we didn’t consult what minorities felt about it 300 years ago.
Stellar. Stand tall! Love it.
I didn’t realize there was anyone else out there who understood the background of so many of our soldiers. This is a really great post. One of my favorite books is one called BORN FIGHTING. “White Southerners” have been statistically the backbone of our warrior class. Happy to see this recognized. (And I’m from the north.)
I still do a lot of work on the military bases and interest in the Civil War led me to take a few jobs in the Old South, visiting battlefields on free weekends. Glad I got to see the Richmond monuments before BLM dismantled them. Still, way too hot down there for an Alaska boy….
If you like history, I have the feeling that our current situation feels more like the English Civil War of the 1640/50s than American one.
Unpopular Catholic Monarch, Charles I, rules over a majority Protestant country – but he wants to take England into the ruinous 30 Years War in service of the Catholic side. Protestants resent getting heavily taxed so Charles can use the English to kill Protestants abroad. Result; Calvinist revolt, Civil War, Oliver Cromwell and one Stuart King minus a head.
In the end, worked out well for the USA though. While the English Commonwealth didn’t really survive the vacuum left by Cromwell’s death and the restoration of Charles II – the ‘republicans’ that fled for the colonies laid the groundwork for the American Revolution 100 years later.
The army is short 30,000 soldiers. Recruiting command is in helicopter mode, trying to figure out how to make up for the last 2 years. The people the army really needs is not interested in wokeness and “inclusiveness”. It’s the army’s loss and it will suffer for it, sad to say. Until the military’s compass swings back to center or right of center, this will continue to get worse. It might take a draft to fix it, but with today’s soy boys, it looks bleak.
To little to late!
Biden and his “expert” austin are dumb & dumber!
Too late. People are waking up and don’t trust the politicians.
Throwing more recruiters and money at the problem will not fix it either.
Good riddance.
In a perfect world not one more young person would enlist.
They treat service members like slaves
Illegally Taking away their constitutional rights. ( shall not be alienated)
Then they use them to wreak havoc and kill people around the globe for Americans financial and political interests despite our founders vision of non intervention policies.
Curious about a couple things:
-In your perfect world, who would have gone after Bin Ladin? The Founders and Framers explicitly saw the need for armed forces. Perhaps not in the way used now, but still recognized the need.
-military service is (as of today) voluntary. Incoming recruits know they are voluntarily giving up a certain amount of civil rights and liberties. They are not Shanghai’d.
-please be a bit more specific about whose financial interests we are fighting abroad to protect.
Masked Avenger, Maybe the CIA should of gone after bin Ladin themselves, after all, he was one of their own buddies and agent.
Seriously though, please tell me you do know that 911 was an inside job by now, and a complete loss of our soldiers lives and limbs in vein over absolute lies.
The first clue that it was all lies is when they all ran off to another continent to secure their borders and left our borders wide wide open after an attack on our very own soil. Still happening today.
Oh for goodness sake take a history class! The Monroe doctrine has been used for military actions by the Roosevelt, JFK, Reagan and Bush meddling in places like Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador…. etc.
It is clear you not only did not serve, you don’t even have half a clue about anything military!
And by “Covid vaccine”, they are actually referring to the mRNA clot shot.
It is not and never was a “vaccine”.
The only good thing is that when they bring back the mandates for the next clot-shot, more GIs will tell them where to put it. The gig’s up.
Sometimes you have to read between the lines.
My gut tells me that while the Vax is not ‘required’, it won’t stop them from ‘strongly encouraging’ you to take it. No, they won’t force you out – but when you prove uncooperative they can still have you transferred ‘to the breeding pits’.
There is more than one way to exercise coercion, and no doubt there is massive pressure from the leadership to push the discredited experimental treatment simply to maintain the illusion that it is ‘safe and effective’. Abrupt withdrawal of the treatment could wake up even the most blockheaded, CNN-watching normie – so the injections must continue, no matter the cost.
It’s my understanding (could easily be wrong, still checking with sources) that the easiest paths to achieve compliance would be to deny promotion and crap postings.
The green mafia has all kinds of ways to bring people in line if desired.
Especially with three generations of woke officers:
Lotsa trash comments from “American” who want others to pay the cost for their freedom and anti semites who use every lie to speak against US support of the only democracy and true Allie in the middle east!!
Calm down, Moishe.
I’ll take a Jew as a neighbor long before a Muslim.
Sure, he may end up being a pornographer and vote for the wrong kinds of politicians – but he’s at least civilized and not going kill anybody because they had sex.
But that mild preference for western civilization is a long way from volunteering US blood and treasure in service of their Middle Eastern turf war.
I’m not on principle opposed to Apartheid, but I can recognize the hypocrisy of the Jewish people insisting on Apartheid for themselves in Israel – while they spent decades attacking and undermining White Afrikaners and Rhodesians for wanting the same. 30 years of corrupt black rule and now both of those once great countries are now circling the drain, and the White people remaining there are now paying the price.
Apu,
You’re making your fellow antisemites blush with talk like that.
Ah, another one, like Steve-O, who speciously equates any criticism of the parasite state of Israel with “antisemitism”. You are EXACTLY like the wokesters who cry “racism” when their iditic political and social agendas are challenged.
A man is known by the company he keeps.
Indeed. Steve.
And how many dual-loyalty dual citizens do you count among your own?
Right over your head Jeff, right over it…like right up there ^ over it…
Not that it matters, but I count zero dual-loyalty dual citizens among my own. I once knew a guy who was a US Navy veteran and held dual Canadian and American citizenship because he was born in Canada but had American parents. Does that make me a duplicitous, despicable, dastardly, communist sympathizer who sporadically spends seconds with his sophistry?
The founders, who put it all on the line would shudder at today’s nameless crowd who yell from their protected porches at the government. Best to get out there and actually do something that you believe in rather than listen to yourself fart.
My god the Covid decided that it was bs after all!
Nuremberg 2.0
Now how about restoring the careers of the people Grandpa Bloodstains hounded out of the military?
Does that start, or end, with all the generals and higher-ranking brass who were drummed out under the Obamanation due to doubleplusbadwrongthink?
It’s a bold strategy: recruit white people from red states to fight white supremacy in red states.
Kinda like trying to have a baby with a trans woman. The reality math doesn’t add up.
They got rid of the mandate because they’ll just throw that shot in with the hundred and something other experimental shots that they pound you with, when in the military.
I don’t trust a one of them any further than I can throw some pink haired obese radical.
I hope they all enjoy what they’ve created with their laws, lies, policies, thieving, and just disrespect for true Americans.
Two issues for me. First, the first government official who told me bold-faced lies was my Army recruiter. It’s been downhill with my trust in what government tells me since then. I’m sure I’m not alone in that mistrust and our youth seem cynical as can be.
Second, conscripts rarely fight with the same zeal as volunteers. In WWI conscripts had to be forced to fire on the enemy at the point of a sword. Literally. Most young people were loath to kill another human being, even when being fired on. The rate of kill fire changed over time as military training became more centric on dehumanizing the enemy which caused soldiers to see the enemy as someone to hate and destroy at all costs. We were trained and conditioned to HATE and kill communists in the 60’s and 70’s. Now it’s no longer communism, it’s someone else who’s the enemy. The enemy’s name changes but the dehumanization and kill mission remain the same. Effective but brutal.
I won’t be surprised if they get around this by changing the name and the “vaccine” will be administered via a patch that you slap on your arm – no more bioweapon jabs…well-lah!
Hopefully they follow through with this promise. Recruitment would sky rocket if they got rid of all vaccine requirements.
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