and they think that military experience will help them fight race wars

https://apnews.com/article/military-recruiting-army-shortfalls-enlist-1611ea378b32826cc4615dc3731f3f70

This article was published in September of 2024.


The Army has made the biggest comeback, after falling far short of recruiting goals for the past two years. Two years ago, the Army brought in 45,000 recruits, far less than the 60,000 it needed, and last year it again fell 15,000 short of what leaders publicly set as a “stretch goal” of 65,000 recruits.


The Navy fell short of its recruiting goal by about 7,000 last year, prompting leaders to take more dramatic steps than the other services. It has worked to greatly expand its pool of applicants by bringing in recruits who don’t have high school diplomas or a GED and by taking young adults who score very low on the armed services test. Both are rare steps that the other services greatly limit or avoid.

Yes, recruitment is up but it was up significantly BEFORE the election.

https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2024/10/military-services-upping-recruiting-goals-after-rebound-2024/400698/

Military services upping recruiting goals after rebound in 2024

By Audrey Decker
Staff Writer
October 30, 2024

After years of shortfalls, nearly all of the U.S. military’s active-duty components met their recruiting goals this year—and plan to increase those goals in 2025.

The military services recruited 225,000 people in fiscal year 2024—25,000 more recruits than last year, Katie Helland, the Pentagon’s director of military accession policy, told reporters Wednesday.

Service officials have previously cited a lower desire to serve, limited familiarity with the military in the general population, a competitive labor market, and declining eligibility among young people as the biggest hurdles to military recruiting, and officials Wednesday said those challenges persist. Only about 23 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 24 are eligible to serve without some type of waiver, Helland said.

But as recruiters regain a foothold in communities post-COVID, the services are seeing more willingness to serve, and that “growing propensity” helped them achieve their recruiting goals this year, Helland said.
(snip)

More people turn to the military for options