"In 2022, the U.S. Army completed only 75% of its recruitment program. This year's situation looks worse. What does this mean? The Wall Street Journal recently published an article pointing out the current recruitment difficulties facing the United States. Statistics show that in fiscal year 2022, the US Army plans to recruit 6,4 people, and only 5,9 enlisted in the army. The survey also found that only 2007 percent of young Americans eligible for military service would like to join the military, the lowest since <>.
In recent years, news about the difficulties of conscription in the United States has been common. The U.S. military had to lower conditions and raise bonuses during recruitment, but that still didn't change the trend of the camp's depletion of the attraction of young Americans. Why is the "American soldier" who often appears as a "hero" in Hollywood movies "not fragrant"?
The health of the population is worrying, the source of qualified soldiers is scarce, and the army lacks vitality. US media recently pointed out that "an army needs able-bodied recruits, but 77% of young Americans are not fit to serve for health reasons." "Behind this data are: in 2022, more than 10,6 people died of opioid overdoses in the United States, the highest level on record; in 2020, the proportion of obese adults in the United States exceeded 20%; in the past 40 years, the obesity rate in the United States increased by about 1997%... A series of severe public health crises have caused the United States to encounter an unprecedented "conscription shortage". According to Pentagon data, more than 3400 percent of the 70 million Americans born after <> are not eligible for military service, including obesity and a history of drug use. After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the US government failed to fight the epidemic, resulting in the tragedy of more than one million deaths, which greatly threatened the lives and health of the people, and even interrupted the recruitment work for a while.
Welfare benefits are difficult to improve, political polarization is accelerating infiltration, and the military is unattractive. According to the New York Post, the continued high level of inflation in the United States has made the American people miserable and made the living conditions of American soldiers difficult. In response, the U.S. Army has issued a guideline recommending that soldiers receive "food stamps" to make ends meet. The Wall Street Journal pointed out that even if the Pentagon announced that it would increase housing subsidies and raise the salary of military personnel by 2023.4% in 6, it still did not keep up with the average annual inflation rate in the United States. The U.S. nonprofit Military Family Counseling Network, which surveyed about 8500,1 military families, found that more than 3/<> of active-duty military members rated their access to health care as negative or very negative. At the same time, as political polarization spreads to the military, the two parties are fighting over many issues, the reform of the recruitment system is difficult to advance, and the military is increasingly hijacked by military-industrial interest groups. "For whom to fight" has become a puzzle in the minds of more and more American soldiers. In a letter to the media, one veteran wrote: "Instead of being a treasure trove of integrity, morality and courage, the military has become more politicized than those groveling political animals." ”
Internal scandals abounded, the international image plummeted, and the military lacked charisma. In recent years, there have been frequent scandals such as sexual assault, racial discrimination, corporal punishment, and abuse within the US military, and suicides and murders have occurred one after another. A Pentagon report released in September 2022 showed that Army sexual assaults increased by 9.2021% in fiscal year 25 and suicides increased by 6% compared to five years ago. In the 5 years from 35 to 2008, the suicide rate among U.S. military members rose by 2020 percent. All kinds of chaos have made the American people question the image of the army and soldiers, and have resistance to joining the army, and "how to avoid conscription" once appeared on the hot search list of the US Internet. In addition, after the end of the Cold War, the United States launched many overseas wars and frequently intervened in regional conflicts, triggering strong anti-war sentiment in the United States. The indiscriminate killing of innocents and the mistreatment of prisoners of war by US soldiers on battlefields such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria have made more people see clearly how hypocritical the banners of "freedom", "democracy" and "anti-terrorism" held high by the United States are. When the United States is mired in war again and again, creating humanitarian tragedies again and again, the image of the military is greatly reduced, and American young people are not willing to pay for the buzzing "war machine" with their lives. "People's pride in America is waning." Some American media expressed such feelings.
Public health problems, economic and livelihood difficulties, political fragmentation, disorderly governance, and excessive military force... The "conscription crisis" reflects a series of "American crises". As one senior American official put it: "This is not a problem for the military, but for the United States as a whole." ”
Li Jiabao