US Military Lowering Standards Again as Recruiting Crisis Continues
Currently China’s military consists of approximately 2.2 million soldiers. Also known as the People’s Liberation Army, it is one of the fastest growing militaries in the world. China’s President Xi Jinping has committed to fully modernizing it by 2035.
Xi wants to become the dominant military power in the world, and he is willing to spend mega dollars to do so, according to the United States Institute of Peace.
The U.S. military on the other hand can’t seem to attract individuals to enlist. As of 2022, the United States’ military lagged behind China’s military by 800,000 service members. The gap between is only getting worse as our military is finding it increasingly hard to sign up individuals.
As China’s Navy already supercedes ours, making it the largest navy around the globe, per the USIP, the U.S. Navy is becoming desperate for recruits. So the Navy is adjusting to meet this difficult recruiting environment by lowering the standards those signing-up are required to meet. The last time this occurred was in 2022, according to the Associated Press.
What this means is that individuals interested in enlisting in the U.S. Navy no longer need to have any educational credential at all to do so, including a high school diploma or GED certificate. They simply need to score 50 or above out of 99 on the Armed Services Qualification Test, which all potential recruits are required to take. “Last year, the Navy’s enlistment goal was 37,700, but the service brought in just 31,834. This year, [Navy Chief of Personnel Vice Adm. Rick] Cheeseman said, he set the goal higher — at 40,600. The total size of the Navy for 2024 is set at 337,800.”
Cheeseman believes the dire straits the U.S. Navy finds itself in requires altered policy requirements. “The decision follows a move in December 2022 to bring in a larger number of recruits who score very low on the Armed Services Qualification Test,” the AP reported.
The Army and the Marines still require a high school diploma or GED certificate to enlist, while the Air Force will take recruits who score 65 or higher on the qualification test.
“Last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, the Navy, Army and Air Force all failed to meet their recruitment goals, while the Marine Corps and the tiny Space Force met their targets,” according to the AP. With candidates staying away from those three branches of service, the military is now opening the pool to lower-quality recruits.
Xi must be thrilled by the challenge the United States is having in this regard. It gives him time to further his agenda while we struggle. It is a very unsafe situation to be in as a nation: a massive military of intelligent individuals versus a dwindling military of recruits who can’t add let alone strategize.
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Military leadership is blaming recruitment issues on everything from the COVID pandemic to difficulty competing in a competitive environment against businesses that are now offering the same upsides as the military. This includes covering college tuition.
I hasten to think there are plenty of other equally as relevant reasons the military fell out of fashion. At the top of that list is President Joe Biden whose enormous distaste for everything American, including Americans themselves, doesn’t scream, “Come fight for me!”
He’s let the entire nation down, so now they are doing the same to him.
In addition, Generation Z is lost for a strong connection to this country. They don’t know history and have had everything handed to them. This includes freedom, which they believe came free. They feel their safety is owed to them because they have been told that everything else is by this administration and a liberal society that has indoctrinated them over the many years they have been in-charge.
Let’s face it, when you have been taught that your Founding Fathers are dirt bags and you see important commemorative statues being removed from our land with the blessing of the federal government, why would you enlist to become part of that? You wouldn’t. And plenty of red blooded American parents aren’t willing to let their sons and daughters fight to save the warped Biden agenda or nation.
According to the New York Post, Willie Reed, a Navy petty officer third class serving on the USS John C. Stennis, explained, “A part of me thinks that, if you can barely remember things like the 9/11 attack, then you won’t have the same kind of motivation to serve that my generation did.”
In addition, “Exacerbating the problem is the fact that according to estimates, just 23 percent of young people can meet the military’s fitness, educational and moral requirements — with many disqualified for reasons ranging from medical issues to criminal records and tattoos,” according to the Associated Press. Plus, our youth are struggling with mental health in droves. Generation Z leads all other generations in loneliness and depression issues.
Crippling a nation’s military is an effective way to sink a nation. We need to transform current-day societal culture, educate, and remove the Biden administration to begin with.
All you need to do is listen to our youth to understand how unfit they are to serve. You couldn’t trust any of these individuals in the following video with a gun and expect them to do anything but shoot themselves accidentally.
WARNING: The following video contains language that some readers may find offensive.
I don’t know how much lower the U.S. Navy or entire military could intentionally lower the standards, given how low they’ve electively fallen. Lowering them anymore won’t serve us well as the Iran-backed militant drone attack in Jordan on Sunday that killed three U.S. troops emphasizes. We are a nation without borders currently and without a suitable military to defend us.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
