As America is facing some of the most volatile situations around the world in decades, now would be the time for the U.S. military to be at the height of readiness — to have the most qualified, well-trained fighting force America can produce. However, Since Joe Biden became president, the military's priority has clearly not been one of combat readiness but one of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). More and more, it is being shown not to work in civilian life, and it certainly does not work in the military. As a result, military recruitment is down in general, and recruiting among whites may be fueling that downward trend.
Hdlne:"Decline in White Recruits Fuels Military Recruiting Crisis"-First the Mean Media complains about too many Whites. Now they complain about too few Whites. So which is it to be?
— T. Wizzler (@Twizzler6231) February 13, 2024
A new report from the Department of Defense shows that, in fiscal year 2023, the Army, Navy, and Air Force all missed recruiting goals. In fact, the U.S. military is currently the smallest it has been since before World War II. But what is interesting is that while the recruitment of minority individuals has remained steady or even increased, the number of white recruits has declined dramatically. Even more interesting, the director of the American Military Project at the Claremont Institute, Will Thibeau, stated that this data “reveals the decline of white recruits is almost entirely responsible for the recruiting crisis." He added:
“A smaller proportion of white Americans serve now than ever before. This is fundamental, because complimentary increases in black and Hispanic recruits have not taken place."
Add to that a January 2024 Heritage Foundation report that gives this grim assessment:
...the U.S. does not have the necessary force to address more than one major regional contingency (MRC) and is not ready to carry out its duties effectively. In fact, its condition has worsened over the past two to three years.
The number of minority recruits has fluctuated within the last five years, but only the number of white recruits has been steadily falling. In fiscal year (FY) 2018, there were 44,042 new soldiers in the U.S. Army; of those, 56.4 percent were white. In FY 2023, that number fell to 25,070 new soldiers, with just 44 percent being white. In FY 2018, black recruits numbered 19.6 percent of new soldiers, 23.5 percent in FY 2023. Hispanics went from 17.2 percent to 23.5 percent in that same time period.
The intended and unintended consequences of DEI in the US military: The number of the Army's new white recruits is dropping dramatically.https://t.co/un8RxqQBBv pic.twitter.com/9ql5ansNcY
— i/o (@eyeslasho) February 13, 2024
The same predicament can be found in the Navy and Air Force over the same period. While Air Force recruits went down overall during this time, Asian Air Force recruits rose from 3.7 percent to 6.1 percent. The percentage of new black Airmen went from 17.2 percent to 21.5 percent. The Air Force tracks both "non-Hispanic" and "Hispanic" recruits, with the number of non-Hispanics going down slightly and the number of Hispanics going slightly up. But again, the number of white recruits went from 72.4 percent of total recruits to 62.9 percent. Navy recruitment told the same story. The number of white recruits fell from 24,343 in 2018 to 18,205. Black and Asian recruit numbers increased, blacks from 6,798 to 7,947, and Asians from 1,518 to 2,075.
The Marines also calculate Hispanics in a separate category and include statistics for officers versus enlisted personnel. The Marines are the one branch of the military that has not had recruitment issues. However, the biggest drop in enlisted white Marines came between 2021 and 2022. That number dropped by 3,090, which made up most of the decline in both white Marine officers and enlisted by 3,214.
Several things are contributing to the overall failure of the military to reach recruiting goals that are affecting all military-age Americans. Every branch has specific physical fitness requirements that are not being met. According to the Centers for Disease Control, one in three Americans aged 17-24, the prime military recruiting age, does not meet physical fitness requirements. Among those who do meet the requirements, just three in four engage in activity levels that would prepare them for the rigors of basic training. Those who meet education requirements are also an issue. At the beginning of 2024, the Navy began allowing those with no high school diploma or GED if they score 50 or higher on the Armed Forces Qualification Test, a test all recruits must take.
But the biggest obstacle in recent years may be the view of the military as being too "woke." Those who serve in the military tend to be more conservative-leaning and join the military to serve their country and view it as a calling. With the Navy turning to things like drag queens, and Pentagon officials stressing DEI, placing people in positions that they are nowhere near qualified for because they check off all the right boxes, this may be a disincentive for people who believe that if they join the military, they will not be promoted based on merit, but something else entirely. It's what happens when TV Generals, not military Generals, run the military.
Gee, who could have predicted that favoring non-whites in promotions would lead to fewer white people joining the military? https://t.co/mpoiM0MNaC?
— Scott Drum (@scottdrum) February 13, 2024
RELATED: Army Recruitment of White Soldiers Plummets, Take a Wild Guess Why
