- The US military has a very real problem,
and in fact some of you watching right now, are it.
So we've gotta talk about that
as well as the controversial moves
we're seeing the military make to try to address it.
Because the problem is that
US military recruitment numbers are plummeting,
with recent Pentagon data showing us
that this is affecting all branches of the military.
The Army hitting less than 70% of its goal,
the Navy hitting 60%, the Air Force hitting 87%,
and the numbers for reserve recruitment's even worse;
with the Air, Navy, and Army Reserve
all hitting around 60% of their recruitment goals.
And one of the key things here,
is that this is a relatively new problem.
For the fiscal years of 2019 through 2021,
each of the branches actually met
or exceeded their recruitment goals.
In fact, even the Reserves and National Guard
either met their goals or came close in 2019.
And according to a recent report from
the Government Accountability Office,
recruitment and retention
is a critical challenge to national security,
with them highlighting three key areas
where they say that the Pentagon
is floundering in their efforts,
saying they haven't collected or tracked sufficient data
to help support recruitment and retention decisions;
They do not have sufficient goals, plans,
or strategies to guide it;
and they're not effectively monitoring
their own efforts for recruitment.
Which brings us to the "why."
Why are the recruitment numbers so low?
Why don't the kids wanna join the military these days?
Well, some Republicans have argued that
the recruiting problems are rooted in the "woke" agenda,
with representatives like Jim Banks from Indiana
saying that the military is in danger of losing
its meritocratic principles to quote,
"The ever expanding bureaucracy of diversity,
equity and inclusion policies,
regulations, and trainings."
You also have the other side of the aisle
quick to shut down that theory,
with Democratic Senator Jack Reid of Rhode Island,
who's also the chairman of
the Senate Armed Services Committee saying,
"Let me be clear.
Diversity and inclusion strengthens our military.
By every measure, America's military
is more lethal and ready than it has ever been.
It is also more diverse and inclusive than ever before.
This is not a coincidence."
With Reid then going on to cite
an Army survey saying that
the main reasons that young adults
do not want to enlist are, "Fear of death or injury,
worries about PTSD, and separation from friends and family."
And nowhere on the list of deterrents
is it that the military is too "woke".
But whatever their reasoning,
young people just are not
joining the military as frequently as they used to.
And an irony of this situation is,
that while they're facing concerningly low recruitment,
the military is also celebrating 50 years
as an all volunteer force this year.
But amidst the celebration,
some are wondering if that's about to come to an end.
Is there, or could there be, a draft on the horizon?
Though to that concern, officials are saying absolutely not,
with one Navy commander saying, "We are a better force
because we are an all-volunteer force.
Everybody who joins this force wants to be here.
They signed up for this.
I think there's something really special about that."
And the Under Secretary of Defense
for Personnel and Readiness calls
the problem of dwindling recruitment headwinds,
"Recognizing that there is no 'silver bullet'
to quickly resolve the current recruiting challenge,
the department is working closely with the military services
to develop new and creative ways
to engage young Americans across all corners of the country,
strengthen partnerships with high schools,
and elevate our marketing efforts."
And in fact, some have taken the "creative ways"
to new heights like the Georgia National Guard,
where they are reportedly trying to combine
two highly controversial things:
military recruiting in high schools
and phone location tracking.
With The Intercept reporting,
that according to federal contract documents,
the National Guard in Georgia plans
to geofence 67 different public schools,
and targeting phones within a one mile boundary
of the schools with recruitment ads.
So they're looking for vendors
to draw a digital border around all these schools
and the phones within those bounds
to be subject to the National Guards ad campaign.
Which will reportedly feature
all the bells and whistles that come with
surveillance based advertising,
capturing the unique digital IDs of students phones,
IP address tracking and tracking pixels.
And they're also reportedly planning on
slapping ads onto every social media platform
and even music apps.
That is of course, except TikTok,
because the app is banned for the Department of Defense.
Even for advertising.
It also appears that they're planning
to go beyond students,
with the guard also reportedly looking into
targeting people of influence in the students' lives,
like coaches, parents and counselors.
And the Department of Defense reportedly
expects whatever vendor they go to,
to achieve more than 3 million views
and 250,000 clicks on their campaign;
with a bid for the contract ending back in February,
but a public winner has yet to be announced.
And so with all this
the idea has already gotten a lot of pushback,
with critics calling the use of location data invasive.
Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst
with the American Civil Liberties Union
saying, "Location based tracking is not legitimate.
It's largely based on the collecting
of people's location data that they're not aware of
and haven't given meaningful permission for."
And an attorney for the A-C-L-U adding,
"I think we have to start putting electronic surveillance
in the context of what we would accept
if it weren't electronic.
If there were military recruiters
taking pictures of students
and trying to identify them that way,
parents wouldn't think that that conduct is acceptable."
Also with this, there's concern
that this ad campaign could end up targeting people
younger than the D-O-D intends;
with dozens of these schools being targeted
also within a mile of middle schools,
elementary schools, parks, and churches.
But even without the invasive advertising of it all,
military recruitment in schools
has been a controversial topic for decades.
And so obviously that's why
we're gonna keep an eye out
for what's happening in Georgia,
as well as the nation in general.
With all that said, it brings me to the two final things:
One, I'd absolutely love to know
your thoughts and opinions on this news,
whether it be why you're interested
or not interested in joining the military,
as well as whatever your thoughts are
if you have served or are in the military.
And two, I just wanna say thank you
for being a part of this morning news video.
Of course, this week I'm posting morning news videos
in addition to the full Philip DeFranco show,
which will be here on the channel
at 5:00 PM Eastern, 2:00 PM Pacific, like normal.
So make sure you're subscribed
and I'll see you right back here a little later today.