Army of Some: Recruiting Trouble for the All-Volunteer Force

Why It Matters

Council on Foreign Relations

News

4.2 • 876 Ratings

🗓️ 26 April 2023

⏱️ 26 minutes

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Summary

All current U.S. military personnel have one thing in common: they volunteered. But falling recruitment has raised questions of national security, military readiness, and the health of U.S. society. Can the all-volunteer force handle a changing international security landscape? Featured Guests: Max Boot (Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies, CFR) Amy Bushatz (Director and Executive Editor, Military.com) Colonel Timothy J. MacDonald (U.S. Army Fellow, CFR) For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/army-some-recruiting-trouble-all-volunteer-force

Transcript

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0:00.0	There is just one place where you can go from high school to flight school.
0:07.0	The Army.
0:08.0	No experience, no job.
0:10.0	But who would give me the chance?
0:12.0	Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine.
0:15.0	Adventures and patriotic young men
0:17.0	with the will to smack the enemy where it hurts the most.
0:20.0	Because America calls for nothing less.
0:22.0	So you can be all you can be.
0:24.8	Be all you can be.
0:26.0	Be all you can be.
0:26.8	Be all you can be.
0:27.8	Be all you can be.
0:30.8	Be all you can be.
0:31.8	Be all you can be. Be all you can be. The slogans may have changed through the years, but one thing has remained constant.
0:48.0	The military wants you to join, but they can't force you to.
0:52.0	And that's because for five decades now,
0:55.0	the United States military has operated
0:58.0	with an all-volunteer force.
1:00.0	Whether in the Army, Post Guard, Air Force, or navy, those who serve do so of their own volition.
1:06.7	In some ways that policy has worked out well.
1:09.4	After all, the US military is the most powerful on earth. It encompasses over a million active
	...

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