No one can doubt that Biden has made this country less safe. But no one thought it could get this bad this quickly.
And now an alarming report from the Pentagon has Americans worried sick.
The United States Department of Defense has warned Congress that the country would enter the new year with its smallest fighting force since before World War II.
Ashish Vazirani, the Pentagon’s acting undersecretary for personnel and readiness, told the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that the Army, Navy, and Air Force missed their 2023 recruitment goals by a combined 41,000 personnel, The Daily Mail reported.
According to the Military Times, the yearly defense authorization bill enacted by Congress earlier this week said that active-duty troops will be reduced to 1,284,500 in fiscal 2024, a reduction of 64,000 troops over the previous three years, giving the US military its smallest number since 1940.
“That number understates the challenge before us as the services lowered end-strength goals in recent years, in part because of the difficult recruiting environment,” Vazirani said, adding that military recruitment is facing “one of its greatest challenges” since the last declared draft ended in 1973.
Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, expressed worry over the decline in military personnel.
“In every branch, we need a larger force.” However, the reality of recruiting drives the numbers, not what we truly require,” Wicker told The Military Times.
Some branches of the armed forces have recently gone to greater efforts to increase recruiting levels. Earlier this year, the Navy named active-duty sailor and drag queen Joshua Kelley as one of five Navy Digital Ambassadors in an experimental recruitment program.
In April, the Air Force made a drive to recruit more Americans by lowering weight requirements.
The measures did not appear to be successful, as both the Navy and the Air Force are set to lose thousands of airmen and sailors by 2021.
The Army has the most difficult recruitment challenge among the armed branches, having lost nearly 40,000 members in the last three years.
The Marine Corps, which fulfilled its most current recruitment goal along with the Space Force, is nonetheless forecast to be down by about 9,000 active-duty military personnel compared to fiscal year 2021.
According to Vazirani, the Pentagon is attempting to reverse the military’s dismal recruiting figures by producing a narrative that “resonates” with young Americans.
“While the picture of the current recruiting environment is acutely difficult, the Defense Department and the military services are working together to resolve issues, improve processes, and expand awareness of the many opportunities military service offers,” said Vazirani.
“We must reach today’s youth where they are with a message that resonates with them and motivates them to act.”
The problem for Joe Biden and his DOD appointments is that pushing DEI and woke agendas isn’t going to get them any more servicemen.
Even if it did, it surely won’t be the battle-ready and courageous men we need.
But that isn’t going to stop them, because they don’t really care.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
