A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it.***The U.S. military has struggled to meet recruitment needs, particularly in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic began. There are various diagnoses of the problem — including demographic issues; cultural and social changes; economic trends; changing perceptions of the military; and the role of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs — and consequently there is significant disagreement about the potential solutions. The new Trump administration will have to decide how to approach the military recruitment challenge, so we asked three experts to provide some context and suggest how the Defense Department’s new leadership might address recruitment. Katherine L. Kuzminski Deputy Director of Studies, Military Veterans, and Society Program Center for a New American SecurityDeclining interest is the root cause of today’s recruitment challenges, rather than the eligibility rate, which is consistent with rates seen a decade ago. Recent hypotheses suggest that the decline in propensity for military service lies in specific shocks — such as the COVID-19 pandemic or perceptions of partisan politicization. However, modern recruiting difficulties are the result of long-term trends across American society, including increased expectations of college attendance, labor market dynamics, and a decline in civic engagement.The Trump administration should build upon the trajectory of the military services’ intentional, structured efforts to modernize recruitment over the past four years. The establishment of the Future Soldier and Future Sailor Prep courses in the Army and Navy, increased accountability of the general and flag officers in charge of the recruiting enterprise, modernization of information systems, professionalization of recruiters through additional officer functional areas, establishment of recruiting warrant officer
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A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it.***The U.S. military has struggled to meet recruitment needs, particularly in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic began. There are various diagnoses of the problem — including demographic issues; cultural and social changes; economic trends; changing perceptions of the military; and the role of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs — and consequently there is significant disagreement about the
