By Emily Sturge | Campus Reform
Senior at University of Florida
Young people are experiencing a revival in American values, and consequentially, many are lining up to put their lives on the line under President Donald Trump.
The U.S. Army reported a significant increase in recruitment following Trump’s election victory, overtaking previous records.
December 2024 marked a remarkable turnaround, with the Army enlisting almost 350 soldiers every single day—the highest recruitment rates for any December for a decade and a half.
Similarly, the Air Force is experiencing unprecedented numbers of aspiring airmen eager to enter boot camp, Military.com reports.
With thousands of new recruits, the message is clear: America’s youth want to serve a Commander-in-Chief who prioritizes American strength and lethality, not DEI.
There is a clear shift in energy, a restoration in morale, and an increase in confidence among young people taking the oath to serve their country.
They are ready to serve a military that reflects their own values of duty and honor, bolstered by trust and security that comes with Trump’s leadership.
This revival comes down to three things: dismantling DEI, renewing standards of service, and restoring trust in the armed forces.
Here’s the breakdown:
The troubling reality is that DEI has infiltrated both our academic institutions and the Pentagon, contributing to a significant recruiting crisis.
DEI ideology isn’t merely limited to race, it also houses the leftist worldview of ‘body positivity’ that seeks to normalize obesity and label physical fitness as an oppressive right-wing idea.
This facet of DEI ideology is weakening America’s youth and limiting their prospects before they even consider joining the military.
Elite universities peddle this concept with bizarre ‘fat studies’ courses at institutions like Harvard, Cornell, and Northwestern, where physical fitness is demonized and obesity is celebrated. Santa Monica College teaches students that ‘diet culture is intertwined with systemic oppression’ and the University of Maryland labeled dieting a ‘special enemy’ of diversity.
As the Left labels eating vegetables and lifting weights as oppressive, America’s youth face an obesity epidemic. More than 70% of American youth failed to meet military enlistment standards due to factors such as obesity and physical health problems.
The leftist glorification of obesity has created a generation unfit to serve.
Yet, instead of addressing these pressing issues, the Pentagon has squandered its resources on leftist ideology, earmarking over $114 million for DEI initiatives that detract from essential military readiness and effectiveness.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) revealed the Department of Defense spent over $80 million in taxpayer dollars on wasteful DEI and university climate change studies.
Campus Reform reported that the Department of Defense granted $1.6 million to Boise State University to study how climate change impacts how birds lay eggs and $1.6 million to the University of Maryland to study how climate change in Mozambique impacts national security.
These frivolous studies, alongside pride flags, pronouns, and trainings on “white privilege,” do not serve our nation’s defense needs. They do not increase marksmanship or physical stamina. DEI trainings and climate change studies are no match to Russian nuclear warheads.
As this nation shifts back to common sense, the Trump administration has prioritized rooting DEI out of America’s military academies.
Notably, the Air Force Academy and West Point dropped “Diversity and Inclusion Studies” minors. The Coast Guard Academy eliminated its DEI department and the Naval Academy directed staff to remove gender-identifying pronouns from email signature lines. In all four military academies, Trump fired “woke” board members.
Removing DEI from the military is key to restoring meritocracy, reinstating standards, attracting qualified candidates, and regaining strength.
However, the ridding of woke ideology and the restoration of meritocracy within the military landscape are only part of the story. The surge in recruits goes deeper than simply rooting out pronouns: There’s an aspect of trust and safety that comes with the Trump presidency.
Trump stands out as the first president in modern history to avoid initiating any new wars, whereas President Joe Biden observed Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, Hamas’s attacks on Israel, and China’s looming presence over Taiwan. Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal cost this nation 13 American lives.
One president calls for peace through strength, the other created 13 new Gold Star families. Today’s recruits are aware of this difference.
Young people are enlisting knowing that they align with the values of today’s military—not the military gripped with weakness and woke-ism under the Biden administration.
People have responded to a renewal of values, and they feel safer putting their lives at risk under proven leadership.
Trump’s war on woke, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s restoration of a “warrior ethos,” and DOGE’s slashing of waste, fraud and abuse within the Department of Defense will undoubtedly restore priorities of American preparedness and strength in our great military.
The conclusion is clear: Renewed recruitment figures indicate rising optimism among young Americans—especially young men who have found pride in a military that champions their values and spirit, rather than pandering to an agenda that alienates them.
As recruitment soars, so does a revival of patriotism, with a generation ready to answer the call of duty and eager to embody American exceptionalism.
Emily Sturge ’25, Reporter: Emily is a current student at the University of Florida studying political science and journalism. She is an active and has vowed to fight the leftist indoctrination on college campuses nationwide. Emily is also an enthusiastic fighter against Big Tech conservative censorship after she has experienced this problem firsthand. Follow Emily Sturge on X and Instagram.
First published on Campus Reform
Leave a Comment