Retention and Recruitment Crisis

As someone who's probably considered part of the target audience (college-aged adult) for the ads they put out, this would be the biggest (medical issues aside) negative for me. Eye-roll worthy ads and some of the other things they do that I don't necessarily agree with (though I do seem to be less negative towards some of them than most on this board) don't change my desire to serve Americans. As it stands, though, in some ways I feel that over the past decade or so, being a nurse or firefighter or some other job that serves the public at large would be serving my fellow countrymen more than joining up. That actually would would steer me towards something else. To be clear, I'm not trying to diminish the service or sacrifices of anyone who has joined recently (or ever), but with the hindsight of how Afghanistan ended and how much contempt the current administration seems to have for its citizens, its easy for me to imagine an alternate reality where I would be looking elsewhere even if the military was an option for me.
I have a son who is target age (18). Actually, I have a few kids who are target age, but he has researched joining and has been very interested. For lack of a better word, the 'wokeness' has pushed him away. He said this weekend he has abandoned plans to join.
These sentiments are *precisely* what I meant above when I said "from a tactical recruitment standpoint" and my reference to the overton window moving.

I can tell you from my very often and close interactions with the larger recruiting command and the day-to-day interactions with 15-35-year-old candidates- the military recruiting services are run by folks who are 1 to 2 generations out of date and have been indoctrinated/influenced by the ideologies we are all talking about. They see "these darn Zoomers and their tik tok dances and making sure everyone knows how woke and inclusive we are" because that takes up 80% of online content. The dirty secret is that it's focused on 2% of the actual population that care about those things, and the 2% it's focused on arent qualified for military service anyway, e.g., woke white liberal/progressive women and weak chinned males.

It's *exactly* what we saw with Bud Light. Completely out of-touch academics are speaking to what they think is the majority instead of the actual majority, which is remarkably silent and completely sick and tired of this nonsense.

The only evidence I have is 100 people a week contacting me directly to ask, "It seems like everyone is focused on this crap and that's not me, and it's not why I want to serve- should I still consider joining?"
 
I would not be surprised if the overwhelming majority of our military, across all branches:
A) Could care less what one does on their own time as long you aren't "late, light, or last" so to speak in uniform.
B) Would rather run a police call or post "beautification" or whatever than sit through a single CBT/ mandatory briefing, much less those pushing this leftist agenda.
C) Are demoralized every time they are told there's no money for training, then see there is money for these worthless "recruiting" (political) initiatives.

Or maybe I'm the one who is out of touch.
 
I don't watch much television, but they have it on at the gym where I work out. I was doing cardio today (which is... something else I don't normally do) and I glanced up in the middle of this totally awesome Army recruiting video. It had men out on patrol (Rangers? Hard to tell), then these birds turned into drones, but the good guys dropped all of them with some kind of fancy digital device... awesome!! This will DEFINITELY get people to join the Army! Well done, Army Marketing.

...but then there was a fighter jet shooting a missile at a ship. WTF? When did the Army get jets and start shooting at boats?

...and then I saw the Marine Corps propaganda emblem and realized it wasn't an Army video at all.

disappointed bummer GIF

/sad Army of One noises

Well done, Marines.
 
Thats not an admin error - that is a service endorsed butt fucking.

When I finally got out after 17 years (AD and reserve), I was asked all the time "why didn't you put in your 20?" Well, there were a couple reasons, not the least of which is a couple years as a reservist they said I did not have enough points to qualify for a 'good year' in spite of me providing paperwork to the contrary. So, for 20, I would have had to stay in for 22.

My same S1 department also did not have a couple awards and some other stuff. Fucking Navy FTS people. Worst ever.
 
Thats not an admin error - that is a service endorsed butt fucking.

So I have to say about ADSO's. What happens if you have an additional service obligation on your contract and you want to stay, but the Army draws down? See, with ADSO's it's a one way street, can't hold the Army accountable to the contract that you signed.
 
So I have to say about ADSO's. What happens if you have an additional service obligation on your contract and you want to stay, but the Army draws down? See, with ADSO's it's a one way street, can't hold the Army accountable to the contract that you signed.
I suspect the contract is written in "needs of the Army" verbiage that allows them to do that. Or maybe it isn't; it's notoriously hard to sue the .gov so maybe they don't even care.
 

Army starts no-penalty purge of ‘ineffective’ recruiters​


link


One of the biggest changes: the command will remove “ineffective” recruiters without giving them a negative evaluation, including both permanent 79R recruiters and those involuntarily selected by the Army for temporary tours. Under the previous regulation, recruiting commanders had the discretion to slap failed Army-selected recruiters with “relief for cause” evaluations that could torpedo the recipient’s career, regardless of their competence in their primary specialty.
 
Don't get me wrong - I agree fully that contracts go both ways.
If you sign a contract that you dont fully understand and then get mad because the "didn't understand it" part goes in favor of the Army? That's on the troop - but it is still my opinion that a contract error on the part of the service should never be used as a bludgeon that imposes hardship on the Soldier (or Sailor or Marine or Airman for that matter).
 
I got my commission in the early 2000s, I seem to recall--and my memory is hazy--there was language about the potential to be RIF'd. I knew my community was hard to recruit, never 100%, but over the years they increased/decreased some specialties so while I was never considered about being RIF'd I was concerned about being told "LT. Mandelin, you are no longer a critical care RN, now you're a maternal-baby RN." But even with the language I never knew anyone who was forced out or forced to change clinical specialties.
 
Here is the video. This is amazing marketing. Marines aren't floundering around with their organizational identity or what they're there to do.


I mean, it starts with Ospreys in the video, and only one service is crazy enough to routinely put people on those accident-break down-problem prone birds and still be proud of them.

Your intel observations are getting weak in retirement Sir :sneaky::ROFLMAO:;-)
 
I mean, it starts with Ospreys in the video, and only one service is crazy enough to routinely put people on those accident-break down-problem prone birds and still be proud of them.

Your intel observations are getting weak in retirement Sir :sneaky::ROFLMAO:;-)
I mean I'm weak in all kinds of ways bro, but when I looked up from the treadmill what I first saw was some like jungle patrolling an Army-esque kinds of shit. Didn't expect crow-drones in a Marines commercial. That's Army stuff.

Right?

oh, wait...

 
We're a laughingstock. If it weren't for Russia's ineptitude or China's arsenal being Wish.com copies of Russian gear we would be in deeper shit.

That said, I think it's pretty funny how far the woke ideology BS has permeated into the DoD. We gotta remember that the people catering to these woke decisions have been burrowed inside the the DoD for a looong time now. Think Obama era and earlier.

Considering the damage sustained, I wonder how the people who greenlit this bullshit were ideologically brainwashed into thinking this was okay.

 
I mean I'm weak in all kinds of ways bro, but when I looked up from the treadmill what I first saw was some like jungle patrolling an Army-esque kinds of shit. Didn't expect crow-drones in a Marines commercial. That's Army stuff.

Right?

oh, wait...


Pretty sure recruiting directly to children of lesbians is still not going to get the volume of people we need in Uniform. I remember that campaign, such trash.
 
Kinda wish I would have zigged, instead of zagged at times.
Had the opportunity to join the FFL many years ago.
The traditions they maintain in every aspect of Legion life is what I admire them most for.

 
Kinda wish I would have zigged, instead of zagged at times.
Had the opportunity to join the FFL many years ago.
The traditions they maintain in every aspect of Legion life is what I admire them most for.


I worked with a guy that left the Canadian Army after the Canadian Airborne Regiment was disbanded, did 5 years with the FFL, came back to the Canadian Army and went to JTF2. Hard AF dude.
 
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