The military is relatively weak now because its backbone - working class white guys, mainly from the South - is rejecting the culture that pervades it, for obvious reasons.
On paper, a military enlistment should be a viable option for any HS grad (and I do mean a GRAD) who does not intend to go to college. The pay is good (considering that it is all "disposable"), its duration is known, and for those who are so inclined, you can get the Service to pay you to learn a valuable skill or trade. Furthermore, unless you are quite fortunate, the other options are not so good. "Would you like fries with that?"
And yet, if you poll such people, military service is not even on their radar screens.
As I have written in this space before, the greatest vulnerability of the Armed Forces is the Officer Efficiency Report. This performance evaluation literally determines your future as a military officer. A single blemish on your OER can doom you to either being tossed out before you want, or never reaching a reasonable grade, no matter how long you stay in. Accordingly, officers will do whatever they are told, without hesitation or question, even if they personally think it is stupid or counterproductive. This explains the "success" of such initiatives as gays serving openly, trans-serving soldiers, sailors and airmen, and promotion of mediocre, unqualified women and POC's.
What sane young man would voluntarily enter into that cultural cesspool? I have stopped even mentioning military service to the young men in my society; today, it would be a horrible idea.
But all it takes is a good President - a Republican President, to be succinct - to reverse all of this, within a few years.
For the record, there are two things keeping our military at its current passable level: The patriotic Americans who continue to enlist and serve, and technology; we have the best in the world, by far.
On paper, a military enlistment should be a viable option for any HS grad (and I do mean a GRAD) who does not intend to go to college. The pay is good (considering that it is all "disposable"), its duration is known, and for those who are so inclined, you can get the Service to pay you to learn a valuable skill or trade. Furthermore, unless you are quite fortunate, the other options are not so good. "Would you like fries with that?"
And yet, if you poll such people, military service is not even on their radar screens.
As I have written in this space before, the greatest vulnerability of the Armed Forces is the Officer Efficiency Report. This performance evaluation literally determines your future as a military officer. A single blemish on your OER can doom you to either being tossed out before you want, or never reaching a reasonable grade, no matter how long you stay in. Accordingly, officers will do whatever they are told, without hesitation or question, even if they personally think it is stupid or counterproductive. This explains the "success" of such initiatives as gays serving openly, trans-serving soldiers, sailors and airmen, and promotion of mediocre, unqualified women and POC's.
What sane young man would voluntarily enter into that cultural cesspool? I have stopped even mentioning military service to the young men in my society; today, it would be a horrible idea.
But all it takes is a good President - a Republican President, to be succinct - to reverse all of this, within a few years.
For the record, there are two things keeping our military at its current passable level: The patriotic Americans who continue to enlist and serve, and technology; we have the best in the world, by far.