I don't think a 30% decrease in recruitment is primarily caused by delays in the processing.
There are other factors at play.
Potatohead made it clear in January of 2021 that he didn't want patriotic White Boys being in the military.
It's pretty apparent you didn't comprehend my post nor read the attached link. I said that the new system Genesis that was implemented that goes back and gets the applicants entire medical history, as well as the extended times for processing is what the RECRUITERS say is causing the drop in recruiting.
Have you ever worked in recruiting? My last tour in the Navy was running a MEPS in Amarillo for the Navy. YES, medical information (or lack of it) can have a severe impact on whether or not a person gets in. And, yes, I can tell you that what was said in the article about recruiters telling their applicants to not disclose something minor is true, because in some instances, if it is disclosed, it requires additional paperwork from doctors that the applicant may or may not be able to get ahold of. Hell...........there's a poster on here who bragged about his son getting into the military because he didn't disclose that he had asthma (a disqualifying condition). His son kept his mouth shut (according to the poster), didn't tell anyone about his childhood asthma and was able to enlist and complete a full term. If his son HAD told, or if the new system Genesis had done a search and found out that he had asthma, he would have never been allowed to enlist. The medical requirements for applicants is pretty stringent.
And, according to the Military Times article, many recruiters out in the field hate the system because it manages to pull up everything that an applicant has ever seen a doctor for, not just what they disclose at the recruiting station or MEPS, EVERYTHING. And, most of those conditions will require additional certification by medical personnel to say that the applicant is qualified to enlist. If that information is delayed, they can't enlist until they are cleared. If the doctor cannot be reached or the information can't be obtained, the applicant cannot enlist.
Hell, I was stationed with an MM1 who actually didn't know that he had only one kidney, and didn't find out until he went through a physical that was required for a certain program. The doc told him that he'd been born with only one kidney, and the reason nobody detected it before was because he never had issues with it and it was only because of the physical and subsequent checks they did that they found out about it. Because he'd already been in for several years and was pretty damn good at his job and it never caused any problems, he was allowed to stay in. But, if that had been found out when he enlisted, he never would have been allowed in. There are many conditions like that which are automatic disqualifiers, and recruiters will often tell the applicants that since they haven't had a problem with it for the past several years to NOT tell medical when they see them at MEPS. Probably not the most ethical (or legal, because if it's found out a recruiter did that, they can face serious trouble) thing, but it happens.
Yes, I can believe that article when it says that the GENESIS system is causing a lot of recruiters to have a hard time getting applicants in the military.
And yes, having their enlistment date delayed because an applicant is waiting for a waiver to come through can be hard on the applicant, and there have been several times that someone has decided to go another route other than the military because they were tired of waiting for their waiver. I've seen one or two who quit their DEP after a month because they were tired of waiting and not really that motivated. It plays hell on a recruiter to keep a person motivated waiting for a waiver. I know, I've been the one who did the waiver applications.
