Military recruitment panel to Legion: "Help where you can"

Young people who tend to get their information in 15-second social media bursts on mobile phones need to see, hear and learn from real veterans about the true benefits of military service in order to improve recruitment into the U.S. Armed Forces, according to panelists who spoke Wednesday in New Orleans at the 105th National Convention of The American Legion.

“We are facing a national recruiting crisis for a whole lot of reasons,” 15th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Russell Smith said in the onstage session before thousands of American Legion members. “But the fact is, like it or not, you, myself – those who have served – are the ones right now standing in the breach between us and a national draft.”

To preserve and maintain an all-volunteer force, he explained, “requires us to go out and tell our story, to be the example in our communities, to perpetuate the best of what it is we have done. What it gave me – that sense of discipline, that sense of understanding, that sense of small team – that matters.”

All military service branches except the U.S. Marine Corps and Space Force have struggled to hit recruitment goals in recent years, some falling short, due to a range of reasons. Among the most commonly stated problems: physical fitness, behavioral issues, media and public perceptions of service and propensity to serve, based on family lineage. It all leads up to an oft-stated figure: that only about 23% of those who wish to enlist actually qualify for service. And others just don’t understand the value of military commitment or its long-term rewards, nor are they learning it often enough from veterans.

“The thing that always struck me about the military, whatever branch it was, is the connection between brothers and sisters in arms,” said panelist U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Danny Basham. “You’re not going to get that anywhere else. No corporation is going to give that to you. It’s a brotherhood and sisterhood that you enjoy.  We can’t take that for granted. I think the Legion does a great job of that.”

“The more we talk about it, and I think, more importantly, the more we are examples of it in our communities is how that story gets told,” Smith said.

The panel was a diverse mix, all of whom extolled the virtues of military service and the frustrating difficulty of convincing young people to take that path. “It’s critical that we bring the next generation within our ranks,” said the Hon. Patrick Murphy, first veteran of the war in Iraq elected to Congress and former Under Secretary for the Army, who served as moderator for the panel discussion. He framed the session as a national “call to service” where American Legion members can play a big part.

In addition to Smith, the panelists included U.S. Air Force veteran Ethan Brown, senior military fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency; Sgt. Maj. Allen Goodyear, Marine Corps Recruiting Command; and U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. for Analytics and Production Danny Basham.

“Service never stops,” said Brown, an author and researcher on the post-Global War on Terrorism era. “We never stop being ambassadors or representatives. The challenge is on all of us in this room, and the sub-units we represent, when we all go back to our systems and Legions. Find those veteran success stories, and we have to overcome that broken-veteran stigma, in order to be an extension of our recruiting brothers and sisters.”

Brown referenced the 1957 book “The Soldier and the State” by Samuel Huntington that warned of “societal fatigue” about military service and how that parallels today’s situation after the longest war in U.S. history, the Global War on Terrorism. “We see some of those same problems that he identified in his groundbreaking work manifesting today, in particular the civil-military dynamic. Young Americans are reluctant to serve in a military capacity because of how they perceive the military and its role within the state today. This is due to societal fatigue after a 20-year war.”

Media – social and otherwise – also contribute to perceptions on separate ends of the U.S. ideological spectrum that either deride military service as being too “woke” or too “radical.”

“The single most important, tactile issue in the recruiting crisis is the politicization of U.S. military and the American body politic,” Brown said. “There’s buzz phrases like ‘the military has gone woke’ or ‘it’s full of radical ideologies.’ Both of these are straw-man arguments. Whether they are accurate or not does not matter. It is the perception that they are (that is) damning to the men in uniform that I’m sharing this panel with and the men and women who work for them, who are trying to get that next generation of Americans to serve this country.”

Brown explained that Congress directed the Department of Defense to launch a study into the prevalence of radical ideologies in the military and the results were that servicemembers “were pretty much commensurate with the rest of the United States. It’s almost like the U.S. military is a microcosm of American society. Who knew?”

He said one goal, beyond other obstacles to enlistment, should be to restore public trust in military service and understanding of its value. “Rebuilding the public faith in the military and its role in a democracy is a critical factor if we are going address this problem,” he said. “It’s not a simple solution. It’s a comprehensive one. It requires efforts by the military to realign itself for the world that we live in; the federal government to align resources and policy to support the military, to adapt to the new world that we live in; it requires communities and community leaders; and most importantly it requires us, as individual actors in a democracy, to take part in rebuilding that trust.”

The panelists made several suggestions about how the Legion can improve the situation, including:

 -              Connecting directly with recruiters in their communities and helping them make connections with schools.

-              “Create opportunities to inspire, advocate and support the recruiting effort,” Goodwin prescribed.

-              “See how you can help recruiters get their foot in the door,” Basham said.

-              “Let’s not lead with victimization,” Murphy said. “Be a civic asset. It’s going to set you up on a path to greatness in your life.”

Smith made the point that 77% of successful Navy recruitment comes from military blood lines. “That’s wonderful in some aspects – heartwarming – but if you want to enfranchise a nation in the future of your military, we have to find people who have never served, who understand that through the military, you can change your family’s destination in one generation. If you come in and you work hard, and you achieve, you will set your kids and your progeny up for success … In addition to those who have families that have served, we need to find many more who haven’t.”

“Service never stops,” Brown said. “You never stop being a part of your community. There’s always places where we can engage ourselves – youth sports, assisting at public schools with physical education or civics education. There are so many more things that each and every one of us can do to take that individual responsibility for rebuilding that trust in the institution that is the U.S. military.”

This is not a small problem, Smith suggested in the discussion. “If we don’t stand up right now, there won’t be another generation on this stage in 30 years looking out at another audience talking about the same thing. Our national destiny is at stake. That’s what this is about. So, please listen and help where you can.”