American Family News spoke to Air Force Col. (Ret.) Rob Maness, a former bomber squadron commander who served the U.S. military for more than 30 years.
“One of the best moves that the United States made in the 20th century, in 1973, was to go to an all-volunteer force,” he contends. “The foundation of America’s armed forces was a volunteer force.”
But Maness finds it unfortunate that the Biden administration has taken the military “much further down the road of not being able to recruit and retain members.”
He cites a few reasons why he believes recruiting and retention numbers are down:
- the circumstances surrounding a chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan,
- the enforcement of an unlawful military COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and
- an advancing “woke” ideology within the military.
Regarding the latter, the infiltration of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training in the military has “essentially said the military needs to be less white” and more inclusive of others based on gender, race, and sexuality, says the retired Air Force officer – who then points out that most service members killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan were white men.
“[And] today,” he says, “the military is led by an administration that basically demonizes white men.”
In fact, President Biden’s pick to chair the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., signed an August 2022 memo that said there were 5,400 too many white officers in the military.
With the increased politicization of the military and the infiltration of a “woke” culture into the various branches of service, Maness agrees with a recent AFN story that families are no longer encouraging their children to join the military.
“It’s not just a matter of families not wanting them to enlist, but many are actively saying to their children, ‘you are not going into the military,'” he says. . . . . (read more on American Family News)
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One of the comments on the article:
“I used to talk to the young men working retail of my adventures four times around the world in the US Navy sporting one of my ships covers. Now I don’t even make eye contact as I go through a register with a guy wearing a she/her name tag. My family will not join. The government has gone rouge.”
Additional:
For 50 Years, Recruiting a Volunteer Military Was Salesmanship. Now, Few Are Buying (Military.com, 30 JUL 23)
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