US Army faces 'TikTok mutiny' as Gen Z recruits whine about low pay, 'sh***y' food and FITNESS TESTS while on bases in uniform

Daily Mail ^ | Dec 17 | By ALICE WRIGHT

[RandFan]

The US Army is facing a TikTok mutiny as Gen Z recruits are taking to social media to whine about low pay, 'sh***y' food and fitness tests.

The brazen posts - by uniformed troops on US bases - represent an audacious challenge to top brass amid a recruitment crisis. The Army fell short of its target by 25 percent last year.

One of the posts by military influencer Anthony Laster slams Army life for having 'No Privacy, The Pay Sucks, Sh***y Food, Disrespectful Leadership, NO SLEEP!' and has been viewed more than 600,000 times.

Laster, from Chicago, has more than a million followers on TikTok and made the public comments in uniform while on mission in the desert. In another post he claimed he spent his whole day watching TikToks while supposedly fighting the Taliban.

It gives a woeful impression of America's fighting forces to potential recruits, which is likely to cause further animosity toward TikTok from critics

[atc23]

I got paid in cash when I was an E-1

75 dollars every 2 weeks.

[LeoTDB69]

If I were enlistment age and gung ho, not real sure I'd even want to be anywhere near what we call military these days.

[Right_Wing_Madman]

The Romans did the same thing with the barbarians. The natives didn't join the army so they had to turn to the barbarians to fill the legions. We all know the end to that story.

I see this a lot on this forum and it's incorrect. For the Romans, "barbarian" was someone who lived outside the empire's borders, like the Slavs and Germans. The Romans, until the very end, never filled their ranks with barbarians. The problems started in the 3rd century when non-Romans and non-Italians in the empire manned their legions, like Greeks, Syrians, Gallians, etc. The Romans often found themselves in conflict with their own legions.

[allblues]

When I entered the USMC in ‘69 privates were paid $115.20 a month. 72 cents per hour.

[Bonemaker]

“... as Gen Z recruits whine about low pay, ‘sh***y’ food and FITNESS TESTS....”

So what’s new? That’s been true since there was a military.

[voicereason]

Like the Air Force?

Ahhh....did someone not do well on the ASVAB???

[Mr.Unique]

Like the Air Force?

Sorry about your ASVAB score.

[ansel12]

Did exceptionally well, I just wanted to serve in the military and do soldier things.

I still cannot understand why people join the military to basically live the life that they do in civilian life.

[voicereason]

If the American military could be manned and operated effectively with unskilled, uneducated peons, speaking dozens of various languages but no English, with little to zero exposure to technology and advanced thinking of modern culture, and of questionable (illegal) morals and character, and God knows what national loyalties and with what security risks, then we could do much better just lowering our standards for Americans.

The French Foreign Legion figured out how to do it. And they certainly aren't a 'soft' group.

[Bonemaker]

“When I entered the USMC in ‘69 privates were paid $115.20 a month. 72 cents per hour.”

Privates got $20/month in WW2. Of course with government induced inflation that would probably buy more then what you made. I made $375/month as a 2nd Lt. in 1963 and thought I was on easy street.

[Bonemaker]

RIP to a fellow airman.

[ansel12]

The French Foreign Legion is extraordinarily selective in recruiting.

While the many, many 1000s of men from around the world showing up to apply annually are already self-selective as the kind of men any fighting unit would want, the Legion only accepts about 8 to 13% to try out for being the tiny number they accept.

You are incredibly mistaken to think they are desperate for bodies instead they are completely in the driver’s seat.

[Mr.Unique]

Sure. The Army is packed full of guys who coulda been in the Air Force.

They just didn’t wanna. 😬

[ansel12]

You don’t understand the concept of warrior males wanting to do warrior things, and having zero interest in being a civilian in a uniform?

[Liaison]

These folks should have joined the Air or space forces. Training in my unit: Dirty, no sleep (cat naps count?)for 24-48 hours, barely eaten MREs, dipping MRE coffee packets ( can’t stand chew), and carrying the pig, rifle, and, pistol. Ammo belts in cargo pants and 2l water carriers.
What is there not to like about the army?

[smokingfrog]

When I was in the Army, the barracks were like a 5-star hotel, the mess hall served fine cuisine & the drill sergeants were really swell guys!

[ansel12]

It isn’t what you are working on when you are turning a wrench and repairing a piece of equipment, it is that you are turning a wrench repairing a piece of equipment, whether it is a plane or a car at the dealership, or at the Kawasaki shop.

Some of us want to go camping, shoot guns, snowshoe and ski, parachute out of planes at night, face rugged outdoor challenges, do the exciting Army stuff, and learn those fighting skills that are so different than what we did or will do in civilian life, some of us join the military to have fun.

[wardaddy]

Not in 3rd ID I can promise

[Cen-Tejas]

Great pic!