The United States Army and the rest of the Armed Forces have been missing their recruitment goals.
Between a decline in health and the politicization of the military, fewer Americans have wanted to join the military. This has led to dangerous cuts in the special operations community, the tip of America’s power. The Washington Examiner says:
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), a retired U.S. Army Green Beret and chairman of the subcommittee on readiness, said he was “stunned and appalled” over reports the Department of Defense is considering making cuts to the Army’s special operations forces.
Military officials have previously raised the prospect of such a personnel decision, though the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the Army will cut about 3,000 troops, roughly 10% of its ranks, and will inform Capitol Hill of its plans in the coming days.
The crisis is much larger than simply America. The rest of NATO, with Western Europe in particular, is considering reinstating conscription to meet recruitment goals. The Washington Examiner also says:
Western allies may need to enact “a form of conscription” to grow their militaries, a top NATO admiral suggested amid widening misgivings about Russia’s replacement of soldiers and equipment lost during the war in Ukraine.
“It is a societal problem to be solved by society,” Dutch Adm. Rob Bauer, who heads the NATO Military Committee, said during the Warsaw Security Forum, “and if you cannot find enough people that voluntarily want to join the armed forces, you have to most likely think about other means of getting the people — a form of conscription, mobilization, reservists — like in Finland, where there’s still conscription.”
While Russia has suffered greatly from the war in Ukraine, it can still reconstitute itself. In fact, battle experience and re-industrialization could end up making Russia an even bigger threat by 2028.
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