Why nobody wants to join the Army this year

• Why nobody wants to join the Army this year

~ The food is lousy. "'

 

I would say more the "progressive culture nonsense" that we have to do.

It was bad enough on Active Duty having to do the "DoD Mandated" diversity classes each month. Almost always just a rehash with slight changing of a class we had just two months prior. But there was something added, so we have to take the stupid hour and a half long Power Point class all over again, with three added slides with a new slogan.

But it was even worse in the Reserves, where we had to catch up to a month of those freaking things in our one weekend a month. Many months for our drill we would do no actual "training" in our jobs at all, it was entirely spent in classrooms doing endless Power Point classes on almost anything from basically telling us to "not rape each other", "not beat up queers", "sex trafficking is bad", and "the KKK is bad".

Now imagine having to do ten or more of those in two days, because no kidding that was often what our weekends were like. I had planned to wait to retire until I turned 60, but after COVID and we had to do the exact same things but online I simply had enough. Doing absolutely nothing job related, not even being activated to assist in the health crisis even though we were a medical unit. I would never say "cultural shift", so much as "cultural poop" that is forced upon us by civilians that think nothing of making us do such nonsense endlessly, and ultimately to the detriment of the ability of people to actually do their jobs.

My last decade in I was a computer tech. But for most of that I never actually did anything with computers other than taking more stupid and pointless DoD classes. Because there was simply no time left over during drill to actually do my job. Even every couple of months having to take some stupid three hour long "driver safety" training, even though I had been driving since 1980 and had not had a moving violation since 1993. Or having to take some stupid class in how to balance a checkbook, something that nobody even does anymore as nobody actually uses paper checks. But somewhere high up in the DoD somebody decided that everybody in uniform has to do so because Private Schmuckatelli got to his first unit he bought a Mustang and married a stripper. And now can't afford to get a haircut because obviously the military does not spend enough time teaching those in uniform how to set a budget.

And yes, I first entered the service during Reagan's first term in office. I have seen the shifts and changes not only in the military but the civilian population also. But much worse is the largely forced "brainwashing" that we have to sit through almost endlessly, and telling us the exact same things over and over ad nauseum.

To give an idea, here is one that almost all of us knew verbatim about 10 years ago when it came out.



And that is just part 1 of a 2 part video that we would see about every other month. And it was like it for PTSD, suicide prevention, depression, alcohol, drugs, and almost anything else one can think of. There was little that kicked off my own PTSD and depression like having to sit through over freaking eight hours of such nonsense in a 2 day period.

 

Well if you are seeing the exit surveys, you probably have a better handle on the problem then almost anyone. I'm sure the data gets pushed up, but I imagine it get stopped at some point by someone who doesn't want to present data that makes him (or her/zir ect...) not look like a team player.

Saw this on twitter this morning.

 

An opinion article about the recruiting crisis.

The US Army discovers woke doesn’t win wars — but is it too late?

Are the powers that be planning a war?

The US Army last week “released a recruitment ad that critics argue is a sure sign the military is gearing up for war,” Townhall’s Leah Barkoukis reports. “There are no signs of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the 30-second spot, which features white males jumping out of a plane.”

After several years of stressing wokeness and diversity — and telling troops, “If you’re a white male, you are part of the problem” — the Army is suddenly seeking old-fashioned soldiers from traditional sources.

That’s because, like it or not, if you’re looking for combat soldiers, you’re going to be recruiting heavily among white males — and, worse yet from the wokies’ standpoint, white males from the South and Midwest.

Though the Army has become more diverse overall, historically it’s been white males who have disproportionately signed up for combat roles.

 

Care to point out where the Army (or any branch of the military for that matter) has told white men that they are, "part of the problem"?

 

its pretty obvious why the military has recruitment issues, the independent internet "news" channels.

the youth cannot be brainwashed by ONE SINGLE NARRATIVE anymore, which was, brown and yellow ppl bad, white ppl good, lets go kill them savages.

 

Are you asking the writer of that column?

 

And this is exactly right.

Now take it a step farther, and imagine how it is for a Reserve unit. We only drill two days a month. And at least one of those days (but more typically both days) is nothing but that. Because we have the exact same mandates for mandatory training that the Active Duty units have. And we had the same kinds of lectures 4 decades ago, but in the last decade it got to the point where it seemed that was all we were doing.

And sadly, I have seen the issue you closed out with first hand. I myself decades ago caught two s**tbirds who broke into a building they were supposed to be guarding, then fell asleep. And after writing them up, they accused me of being racist against Blacks and Hispanics. Thankfully, my best friend from school was also a Marine, and I had just gotten married and my wife was from South America. Not an xth Generation hyphanated-American one, as in I could barely understand her when we first met her accent was so strong and her accent so bad. Thankfully the charges against me were dropped when even their own lawyer knew their claims were false.

But sadly, there are always some that will fall back on that. I knew a Corporal that had the same charge laid on him. But the Private who made it had never met his wife, who was darker than he was. I have absolutely no tolerance for racism, and also no tolerance for fake cries of racism. 98% of the time it appears to be a cop-out for failings of the individual.

 

And the funny thing is, we are seeing the exact same thing in entertainment now. All these "woke" messages have absolutely destroyed at least 3 intellectual properties, some of them going back almost 5 decades. They just do not seem to get that almost nobody cares about that nonsense, and trying to force it onto us will just make us not see that content anymore. And the same thing is happening in the military. We join to serve, not to be given endless lectures about nonsense that has absolutely nothing to do with our job.

Look, several decades ago we had all that also, but it was nowhere near as pervasive. Maybe a days worth of such classes every quarter with some annually. But when I returned to the military in 2007 I was shocked even then at how much it had grown. And in the next decade it exploded until sometimes it seemed that was all we were doing.

And the thing is, this is not even pushed by the "military". It is pushed by the civilians in the DoD. And for all of those that scream about the military budget, probably the first place they should look to trim the fat and excess is the DoD. Most do not even realize that for every 2 people in uniform, there is a civilian DoD employee. And I can guarantee that those civilian employees with their Union contracts get paid a hell of a lot more than those in uniform would be getting for doing the exact same job.

4 decades ago, when we had a pay issue it was handled by those in uniform. All of our field equipment was issued by unit Supply NCOs (usually at the Battalion level). We might have had 2 or 3 people out of over a dozen in a chow hall that were civilians, normally the long term managers to give it stability as we rotated in and out every few years.

And we ran our own freaking base housing! And our own barracks!

Today, the military is "lousy" with civilians. Doing jobs that we should be doing, and making a hell of a lot more than we in uniform get for the same thing. I spent the last decade before I retired in the Reserves, and most of that was at a major Reserve Center in the Bay Area. There were about two dozen barracks on the base, but we never used them. They actually paid money for us to stay out in town if we lived over 25 miles away. And when I asked why, it was because the barracks were run by a civilian contract and the unit had to pay them if they wanted to use the barracks.

And it was freaking cheaper to put us up in the Ramada, Holiday Inn, and Hyatt than it was to put us up in the barracks in our own base! And it was cheaper to pay us a daily per diem than to have us eat in our own chow hall!

I was even shocked several years ago when I returned to my first military posting. Several hundred people are still stationed there, and they do not even have a chow hall anymore, and have not had one in over two decades. And in talking with some of those their one of their biggest complaints was keeping their weight in check because everything they ate was fast food or microwave and they were only allowed small fridges in the room so at least twice a week they were having to go shopping. And the chow hall when I was stationed there? The building is still there, it's a lounge for the civilian employees.

Oh, and the base clinic was gone also, they all have to see civilian doctors out in town and deal with that nonsense.

I had planed on staying in until I hit 60 and was forced to retire. But a couple of years ago I also simply had enough and got out. I just could not take it anymore, and as a grown assed man in my 50s I hated being treated like a little child by people who had never worn the uniform.

 

Interesting read as almost always. What media franchises are you referring to?

You scored a gig at the Presidio and are complaining about it? Hahaha - sorry, couldn't resist. Seriously though, there had to be something good about a posting to the P.

I suspect the cultural indoctrination and private sector money grab are both as bad as you describe. Hopefully things are a bit more old school on active army bases with regard to barracks, chow and medical. But I heard from a guy that barracks were at some point no longer allowed to be inspected, as if they were run like a college dorm or some s.

I still expect the big recruiting problem is mostly due to pay differentials with civilian options and some serious disillusionment due to Iraq and Afghanistan. The foodie craze that has made being a cook seem glamorous would have affected my point of view at least a little back in '83.

 

We can start with Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and continue with the MCU, then go on from there.

Uh, I never said The Presidio. And the Army turned that over to the Park Service almost 3 decades ago. I was never stationed at the Presidio, not even when it was open. The only times I had ever been there even when it was open was dropping guys off or picking them up at the hospital there.

Nope, it is just as bad as not worse than you can imagine. And not pushed by the "military" itself, but civilian DoD employees.

Go to almost any chow hall, and it is 80% civilians now. No more KP or mess duty, I guess having to wash dishes was to demeaning so instead of that being a rotating duty most had to do at one time or another, they pay civilians to do that. And civilians do most of the jobs inside the chow hall anymore. And the same with the barracks, they are all managed by civilian companies. I was at Fort Bliss when that transition happened in around 2009. Before then, all room assignments were given out by the First Sergeant and the Supply Sergeant. After that, you went to see some civilians on the other side of the base and they gave you your room assignment. And you had to arrange for them to come inspect your room before checking out.

And it became a nightmare for many, although I was lucky enough to not live in the barracks. But in the past, if two roommates did not get along, they could go to the First Sergeant and he would change the sleeping arrangements. And it could be done fairly quickly. Now, you need a letter approving the change by the First Sergeant and the CO, and take it to the civilians that run it, and if they feel like it they will change room assignments. In a week, if you are lucky. One of the biggest complaints the First Sergeants had when I was leaving active duty was how little control they had over that anymore.

Hell, we could not even change our own lightbulbs! And no, that is not a joke. If we had any lights go out, we had to call the company that managed the barracks, and they would send out 2 electricians maybe a week later who would make sure that the problem is just a burned out light bulb, then they would change them.

That is how crazy things have even gotten on the active duty side.

 

It is disappointing to learn that the Army has taken this DEI stuff to the point you both describe.

This is a stunning failure of leadership to know the problem and not to take action to fix it.

None of us back in C 3/9 would have appreciated being lectured about DEI even once a year, much less any more frequently.

I don't recall sitting through a single class of this nature, thankfully.

Seems to me that the fundamentals of being in the service covered it without any need to have classes on it.

 

Unfixable lighting issues, the CIF, GS level civilians and contractor civilians - these sorts of problems rank around the same level as the DEI crap in the exit surveys?

 

You can't blame "The Leadership", because they are just as trapped in the nonsense as the rest of us are. This almost all comes down from on high from the DoD itself.

And it must be remembered the DoD is not military. They are the civilians that tell the military what to do and how to do it. And as most of them have to justify their jobs and high paychecks, they come up with endless hoops we must jump through.

Good example, look at almost any time you have unit Block Leave, or a 96. First, a week out there will be a ton of classes we must take, to ensure that we do not do stupid things while we are away. Then about 2 or 3 day of "vehicle inspections". And fill out where you are going, how you are getting there, and every stop along the way on-line to be approved by the Army and your command. Where if you have 4 days off, you are limited to no more than 200 miles from post.

And yes, I was dumbfounded when I returned to the military and experienced that. Roll the clock back to the 1980s and early 1990s, it was well known by my command that if we had a 96, I was going to drive to LA to see my kids. Just about 400 miles each way. And as a responsible member of the military, it was my job to ensure my car could make it there and back, and if I had a breakdown I still had a way to get back to base in time for Tuesday morning formation or it was my ass.

Now fast forward to 2010. I just got back from a year overseas, and while I was gone my wife bought a motorhome. And we planned a drive to LA to see our son. Fill out the online trip planner, and it is rejected because I did not submit where I was stopping each night with hotel reservations every 250 miles of the trip there and back. And I did not put in where we were staying once we got to LA.

And when my new CO asked me where I was staying, I simply said we were probably driving straight through to LA. We were in a freaking motorhome, if I was driving my wife would be sleeping in the back. And I would be sleeping when she was driving. We did not need motels or to plot most of that out, because we were in a freaking motorhome!

And that actually had to go up to the mather fracking Battalion Commander so she could sign off on my planned leave travel.

And the most stupid thing about that is, the year before I was assigned as a driver for the Battalion XO. Now remember, the Army regulations now state an individual is not allowed to drive their personal vehicle more than 250 miles in a single day. After that far they must stop for the night. Yet shortly before we deployed I drove the XO from El Paso to Yuma in a single day. That's over 550 miles, with nothing more than gas and bathroom breaks. Over twice the distance they allow me to drive my own car, and nobody thinks anything is wrong with that.

No, I actually am a huge believer that the biggest problem in the military is the DoD. The one civilian for every 2 people in uniform that micromanages everything they do. And that is a source of huge bloat. When you essentially have 1 "administrator" for every two people that actually do a job, then you have a problem. Especially when most of those have never actually done those jobs themselves. And this is a great example where I would love to see the exact same regulations they put upon us having to be done by them.

Mister Smith, a guy that runs the supply closet handing out reams of paper and boxes of Skillcraft pens now has to spend several days a month going through hours and hours of mandatory classes. And when he takes his vacation, he has to plan it all out and get it approved by a computer, the DoD, then his supervisor or he is not allowed to take his vacation.

 

It is the large amounts of bloat that are just not needed.

And I did not say "unfixable lighting issues", it is literally light bulbs. It almost sounds like a joke.....

Q: How many soldiers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None, that's the job of a highly trained union contractor.

It is when you start piling it up higher and higher. My last decade was actually doing IT in the Army, yet I almost never actually touched a computer outside of doing the endless online courses we all had to do.

 

No freaking way. There is no freaking way I would consider staying in the military with this bs. Way worse than even the DEI crap.

But to be clear, when I called this a failure of leadership, I have in mind the very top. The JCS and the SecDef. Now I'm not privy to borrow a phrase here about the "flex" between the JCS and the SecDef, but the JCS I assume has some stroke.

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Ah, I like this phrase, flex. I think I'm going to look to include this into my current office jargon, sparingly saved for a discussion I see on the horizon and hope to avoid.
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Curious now that I think about it - what is the de facto vs. the on-paper chain of command from the President to Private Snuffy?

It seems to me that that path de facto does not exist.

But in spite of Milley's assertion that his role in the JCS is to advise, this seems incorrect to me. Isn't the JCS the formal path between the military and civilian leadership?

Reading between the lines a bit here on your and Nightmare's posts, it seems clear to me that our troops are now-a-days held to account for how they comport themselves to civilian "authority" as part of just routine service life. This is an exceedingly poor structure for our servicemembers. Military leadership in this situation has completely lost to ability to influence morale and esprit-de-corps.

I've had to do travel plans for business trips. I would view that drive for the XO could reasonably require an approved travel plan. Someone has lost their mind thinking that the government has a role to limit or review service personnel's travel on their own time. We didn't use the phrase 96, although we should have. It was a four day pass. I used a couple of them and road-tripped from Lawton to Louisville on one of them with a couple of my guys. It was around a 13 h drive. At 60 mph for just 8 hours that works out to 480 miles per day. Where t f did the DoD come up with 250???? Morons.

 

That post was in reply to Nightmare, not you, so whether you said it or not is irrelevant.

It doesn't almost sound like a joke.

It is a joke, but it's not funny.

These additional things you and Nightmare are sharing make the DEI stuff look like nothing almost.

Nightmare mentioned he holds a field grade rank, a Major then at a minimum.

If I am an E whatever and need a Major to get involved with getting the lights fixed in my barracks then that pretty much qualifies in my book as unfixable lighting issues. And as Nightmare described this situation, it is just DUMB.

 

And that is very much true. The exact same complaints in that aspect that I heard from the first Reagan Administration are the same ones being said today.

And ultimately, that really does not matter as the military expects a 60-75% turnover in first term enlistments. People just doing their 4 to 6 years in then getting out, never having a single intention of serving more than a single term ever. In fact, in the early to mid 1980s it was not unusual for a lot of people to join just for the medical. I knew a bunch of couples that planned their kid to come about a year before they got out. So the military would pay for it all and not themselves. And it was not unheard of for gals to join after getting married, then serve only about a year and get out after having their kid. Literally using the military to pay for all the medical expenses.

But this kind of thing is really killing the careerists. I know that if I had known what was coming I might not have never rejoined in 2007. And at that time there was a huge wave of us who rejoined, guys and gals entering middle age that had served between the eras of Reagan and Clinton that decided to come back in and do our part. And even those I knew from the Clinton era were largely disgusted with the way things had changed. I knew many who returned from 2007-2008 that like me intended on remaining in until retirement. But of over two dozen of them I know, I am the only one that did it.

It is that 6 to 18 year in group that this is really killing. As many can more or less tighten their gut when they have to do this endlessly for 3 or 4 years. But when one considers doing it for over two decades or more, the military quickly looses a lot of the appeal it once had. And I know a lot that got out at the 8 to 12 year mark because they just could not stand it anymore.