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America isn’t ready for another war — because it doesn’t have the troops
Vox via msn ^ | 01 Sep 2024 | Gil Barndollar

Posted on 09/01/2024 7:54:08 PM PDT by blueplum

Coverage of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza is mostly dominated by talk of weapons. Reporters and analysts focus on suicide drones, on shell deficits, on targeting algorithms. But for all the attention devoted to modern weapons and munitions, both conflicts are proving that modern war still comes down to people....

... Before Covid, fewer than 3 in 10 Americans in the prime recruiting demographic — ages 17 to 24 — were eligible to serve in uniform. Those numbers have shrunk further since the pandemic began. Only 23 percent of young Americans are qualified to enlist without a waiver....

In the all-recruited force, it is military families that have inexorably become the primary providers of new recruits. Nearly 80 percent of recent Army enlistees have a veteran in their family — for almost 30 percent, it’s a parent. In the half-century since the AVF’s birth, the US military has become a family business.

This entrenchment of a “warrior caste” presents a long-term danger to democracy: a citizenry disconnected from its military can become indifferent to the missions it performs....But the immediate danger is more concrete. Should the majority of military families decide the nation is unworthy of their children’s service, as may already be happening, the AVF will become unsustainable....

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons; War
KEYWORDS: airforce; army; babylonthegreat; concerntroll; concerntrolling; draft; enlistments; fakenews; globohomo; marines; militaryretention; nationalsecurity; navy; neocons; recruit; reserves; volunteerforce; vox
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grab your beverage of choice - it's a long but interesting read
1 posted on 09/01/2024 7:54:08 PM PDT by blueplum
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To: blueplum

Troops? It doesn’t HAVE THE MONEY!


2 posted on 09/01/2024 7:55:21 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
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To: blueplum

I guarantee you that if there was a just reason to go to war, enough men would be found.


3 posted on 09/01/2024 7:59:03 PM PDT by vpintheak (Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug. )
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To: blueplum

Just saw an ad for the Army. Haven’t seen That many white males in one shot like that since about 1965.


4 posted on 09/01/2024 8:00:24 PM PDT by TalBlack (Fight Fight Fight America https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKOJdMog6T0)
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To: blueplum

There are plenty of the “warrior caste” that are no longer active. I pray to never again have to be, but depends on the war and where/how it manifests.


5 posted on 09/01/2024 8:01:42 PM PDT by Kudsman (30yr registered Conservative wants a complete Republican House & Senate. Protect the king.)
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To: blueplum

Not a word about wokeness, gender-nonsense and DEI, DC elitist scorn for America’s traditional (white) military families and conservatives, or the decades-long string of neocon war failures and wasted American lives in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.

They are trying say there’s a problem, without discussing why there’s a problem.


6 posted on 09/01/2024 8:03:32 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: blueplum

We’ve got plenty of armchair generals.

All we need are drones anyway.
That’s why we spent the last 40 years turning China into our manufacturing base.


7 posted on 09/01/2024 8:05:47 PM PDT by DannyTN
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To: blueplum

I have further news for the “reporter,” the U.S. cannot fight a major war and replace losses fast enough to win.


8 posted on 09/01/2024 8:07:42 PM PDT by wildcard_redneck (He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.)
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To: blueplum

We’ve given half of our weapons to Ukraine to fight the Russians so that Biden can keep his illegal business dealing a secret.


9 posted on 09/01/2024 8:10:16 PM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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To: blueplum

I just finished a 22 year career in the Army. The military won’t be touching my kids.


10 posted on 09/01/2024 8:12:09 PM PDT by Nathan _in_Arkansas (Hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats. )
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To: TalBlack

Military.com wrote an article about lack of white recruits a few months ago. The Army barely topped 25,000 white recruits in 2023:
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/01/10/army-sees-sharp-decline-white-recruits.html


11 posted on 09/01/2024 8:13:41 PM PDT by blueplum ("...this moment is your moment: it belongs to you... " President Donald J. Trump, Jan 20, 2017) )
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To: DannyTN
We’ve got plenty of armchair generals.

All we need are drones anyway.

Is the Pentagon a drone hive?

12 posted on 09/01/2024 8:16:49 PM PDT by lightman (I am a binary Trinitarian. Deal with it!)
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To: blueplum

13 posted on 09/01/2024 8:17:38 PM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: vpintheak

> I guarantee you that if there was a just reason to go to war, enough men would be found. <

True. But much of the trust is gone. The government has lied to us many times about many things. So I would not blame a young person for questioning the government’s announcement of a “just war.”

My rule of thumb is this: If Congress has not declared war, then it’s not a just war. It’s another foreign adventure.


14 posted on 09/01/2024 8:18:07 PM PDT by Leaning Right (The steal is real.)
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To: Telepathic Intruder

Biden gave a billion dollars of weapons to the Taliban in Afghanistan.


15 posted on 09/01/2024 8:20:49 PM PDT by BipolarBob (Yes, I backed over the vampire but I swear I didn't see it in my rear view mirror.)
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To: Openurmind

Send the ATF agents hunting down airport directors or the IRS agents going after service workers.


16 posted on 09/01/2024 8:21:51 PM PDT by BipolarBob (Yes, I backed over the vampire but I swear I didn't see it in my rear view mirror.)
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To: blueplum

The core of the military had always been patriotic middle class white males.

The military now considers patriotic white males the enemy.

At a minimum whites will never get promoted.

Not a mystery.


17 posted on 09/01/2024 8:22:06 PM PDT by MeanWestTexan (Sometimes There Is No Lesser Of Two Evils)
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To: blueplum

Here comes the much talked about Draft.


18 posted on 09/01/2024 8:23:43 PM PDT by delta7
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To: blueplum

Bad news for the MIC. But they’ll learn how to manufacture drones and droids.


19 posted on 09/01/2024 8:25:05 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MeanWestTexan
The core of the military had always been patriotic middle class white males.

Cannon fodder.

Obviously, that's not the case anymore.

20 posted on 09/01/2024 8:26:20 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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