Free Republic

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...

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The U.S. Army's status as a professional volunteer force devoid of draftees has produced combat troops more likely to follow the moral direction of their superiors than American soldiers of the past, an Army report said on Friday. In an analysis of what motivated U.S. troops during combat in Iraq, scholars at the U.S. Army War College found that the ground forces of Operation Iraqi Freedom had more idealized notions of their military role than the soldiers of World War II, Korea or Vietnam. Comments by 40 soldiers from two Army divisions and a Marine division, which...