The Problem with Recruiting in Today's Military
The problem with recruitment in today’s military is not the recruiters, it is today’s youth, how they were raised, and the environment that they were raised in.
We grew up in a world, where we recited the “Pledge of Allegiance” every day, and the National Anthem / “The Star Spangled Banner” was played every morning and evening on most TV stations. We grew up knowing the words to patriotic songs like “The Battle Hymn of the Republic“, “America the Beautiful“, “This Land Is Your Land“, and “You’re a Grand Old Flag“. Not only did we hear the songs, but we sang along with them too. We stood for the National Anthem and sang along at sporting events. Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” brought tears to our eyes and we loved hearing Johnny Cash’s rendition of “Ragged Old Flag“.
The radio played songs like Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.“, or “Stars and Stripes Forever“.
You had no problem finding a good patriotic television show on one of the three channels growing up. I loved to watch movies like PT-109, Tora! Tora! Tora!, and South Pacific to name a few.
I remember visiting my grandparents and listening to John Denver’s “Country Roads” on the radio in their big old boat of a car, complete with a glass compass hanging on the front windshield (The Petersens do a good homage to Country Roads).
It meant something to us when someone hurt the United States, we genuinely loved (I still do) our country. Today’s youth get to sit down and disrespect the teacher, as the rest of the class mumbles the “Pledge of Allegiance”, while some students put their feet on the desks. Sure, it was a simpler time, but those values should have been instilled into our children and we (Gen X) are directly to blame for all this mess. We allowed our children to talk back and to disrespect others. We didn’t spank them, we put them in time-out, which was 100% ineffective. I spanked my son once, and that was all it took, he decided that it was better for him to avoid confrontation at all costs than to get spanked. My daughter on the other hand is a different story.
We grew up with meaningful events such as President Reagan’s assassination attempt, and the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. These events not only changed America, but they personally hurt you as an American.
I hear it from Gen Z and Gen A people all the time that those who join the military are stupid and that they live off the system, as taxpayers pay for everything in the military. Part of this is because, in school, they didn’t learn about the history of the United States and the military, the Average daughter has stated multiple times that 9/11 was a paragraph in her history book and Pearl Harbor was even less.
Students today have to deal with teachers who are forcing their own agenda, like in the video below, where a Texas teacher is trying to force students to say the Mexican pledge.
This indoctrination of sorts is really up to the beliefs of the teacher.
And those beliefs go from far right to far left.
@sophforpresident Why yes, thank you for noticing the indoctrination I’ve been working on for months! #TeachingTexas #pledgeofallegiance #teacher ♬ original sound - Sophie Marie
I have relatives who thought the military could go to the commissary and get groceries for free and the same with the military exchange. I’m sorry, but we have to pay for our groceries and items from the Commissary and Exchange. The pricing isn’t that much different from what you pay off base.
Back on track for the topic of recruitment, if you ask your average hard-charging Marine, they will tell you that they joined as it was a calling, or it was something they wanted to do since they were young (that was me). Sadly, that ‘calling’ is missing in many of today’s youth. They are different than what we were when we grew up. If the military wants to be successful in recruiting, they will certainly need to adapt and start to think outside the box.
