Smallest Military in 80 Years Gets,
Problems “Institutionalized”
Amid recruiting woes, active duty end strength to drop again in 2024
By Leo Shane III
Smaller.
The smallest U.S. military force in more than 80 years is about to get even smaller.
Under end strength levels outlined in the annual defense authorization bill passed by the Senate Wednesday evening and expected to be passed by the House on Thursday, the total number of active-duty troops in the armed forces will drop to 1,284,500 in fiscal 2024. That’s down nearly 64,000 personnel in the last three years and the smallest total for America’s military since 1940, before the United States’ entry into World War II.
Lawmakers say the reason for the lower target isn’t a decrease in missions or threats in recent years. Instead, the number reflects recruiting challenges across the services and an expectation of what level of personnel is realistic in coming months.
Despite bipartisan support for the authorization bill calling for a reduced force size, several lawmakers said they are worried the reduction is already putting the country at risk.
“We need a larger force, in every branch,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “But the reality of recruiting is driving the numbers, not what we actually need.”
“Instead of addressing the problem, the answer has been to move the goalposts and reduce the positions in the services. So they are institutionalizing the problem, and that’s not a good approach.”
Robert Greenway
Socio-economic realities certainly play a part in the recruiting slump- how could they not? It may help if Big Pentagon would stop with self-inflicted wounds and unforced errors. That will require a sea change in Administrations and culling the dead wood.
Category: Big Pentagon, Diversity
Maybe get the Sec[tone]Def out there to threaten everyone* with a draft again?
No, no. How about shove the senile dicktater-in-good-grief up in a neo-nat-so-good style red speech where he blames half [+] the folks traditionally responsible for most of the work in this country, to include military service, for {checks notes] HIS misadministration of the public good…
*let’s be real, just the biological men. As much as it’d tickle me pink, this country will continue to protect women from the whole of consequences of their actions.
I am completely opposed to a draft (people registration) and think they need to scrap the whole system. For 140 years, wars were fought on their merit, not because people were made to join (although often they were made to stay), Make the government do the hard work of explaining why we need to go there and do that. Because this current crew really sucks at it.
Also war is hell. 100% of the social media whores that went to the Ukraine, agree that they are not going the f*** back. That was one of the best human experiments ever, for people doing things for the wrong reasons.
If Russia is any guide, the next war we fight we’ll have hundreds of thousands of casualties. They have taken well over 300,000 themselves.
Bingo. If someone smarterer than I can parse the difference between draft and slavery, I’d like to hear/read it.
The hellscape that conflict portends I could see a billion souls disappearing globally just from famine alone.
“Prepare” — A routinely disclothed man from whereabouts undisclosed.
Don’t know how y’all feel about Milley, but here (before the “white rage” and let’s-call-China-first stuff) is some of his commentary as a Joe about such matters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60RHo4PaMug&t=1765s
It ain’t gonna a relatively little Counterinsurgency fight where a battalion loses one dead a quarter (while the rest of country has fewer casualties than the same period in Chicago) and they have a “battlefield cross” ceremony. It’s going to be like World War II (six thousand dead taking Iwo Jima) and that’s how the 25% dead of a platoon are marked so Graves Registration Units can find them after it moved up. Prepare,
Good watch. I remember listening to this a while back and I could hear the chorus of hundreds of Battalion and Bridge Commanders crying out in unison.
My critique is that this dream had been sold once to the modern troop for the second half of the Surge in Iraq.
It just became Powerpoint development for team leaders and up.
Also, given this ‘degraded electronics environment’ he’s gonna need some pretty independently-minded and smart troops…
Good luck with that.
With a bunch of helicopter-parented, non-resilient Gen Z wienies who can’t think or do sh*t for themselves? God forbid if their cellphones don’t work– they won’t be able to function.
https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1735771524030673190?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1735771524030673190%7Ctwgr%5Ec50d615d561b64aee2960621fefb63591be8218b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitchy.com%2Flaura-w%2F2023%2F12%2F15%2Fgen-z-menu-anxiety-n2390868
What Milley says is what we’ll need again. But you’ll have to grow many folk da F* up for them to be able to suck it up and do sh*t people just did in World War II. In a video:
If we lost the same % of Americans in another Global Type peer war as we lost in the WBTS, that figure would be north of 6 million…in just the military casualties. Estimates of an EMP Strike taking out the US Grid projects 80% of the population will be dead in a year.
I repeat my opinion…Recruiting is Salesmanship 101. You are selling a perceived tainted product that people aren’t buying. Selling is exchanging a product (military service) for something of value (your life). Our military is no longer defending these States United. The military and the forever wars have become test beds for the MIC and Social Programs. Fifty years ago I was willing to cross an ocean to kill a commie for mommy. Never again. The 72 million armed Americans will be the only ones able to stand against an invading force…and they won’t last long because not enough of them have made the real effort to…Prepare.
I too am against a draft. Mostly, because I don’t want to have to serve with, lead, follow or fight alongside a person that doesn’t “want” to be there(neither do most of us, but we accept our commitment). However, (saw that coming, didn’t you?) I was able to do some very extensive work with the Turkish Army, and they have the conscription figured out. Every man in Turkey has to serve 2 years in the military. All of the volunteers are considered professional Soldiers and they practice and hone that craft. All of the draftees do the cooking, cleaning, maintenance (painting and mowing, etc.), and all of the busy work. This frees the volunteers to work on what’s important as a Soldier. While I don’t want to see a draft, if we had to have one, this is that way to do it.
I’m not sure Turkey is a good model for anything related to government. They do seem to have border control sorted though. Live ammunition does wonders when you’re trying to drive Afghans back to Afghanistan.
This was 04-05 so it was quite different then
“For 140 years, wars were fought on their merit, not because people were made to join…”
“In the United States, military conscription, commonly known as the draft, has been employed by the U.S. federal government in six conflicts: the American Revolutionary War, the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_the_United_States
Except, it is important to note that the majority on combat warriors in Vietnam were volunteers. However, many, especially the Marines, enlisted in part due to the possibility of being drafted.
So as the force shrinks, the force structure at training bases is reduced so as to maximize training. (Start less companies but make them full.) Then when Dems are voted out and recruiting rises, they’ll then increase force structure at training bases a year later. Those NCOs will come from active duty line units who will then experience shortages of NCOs followed by a flurry of too-rapid promotions of Soldiers who aren’t ready to lead yet. And thus the cycle continues.
As I recall, one had to qualify beforehand to enlist in certain
MOS’s and there were “waiting lists”.
Signal School being one of them. And that was no safe haven
for avoiding Viet of the Nam. You could end up there no matter MOS.
So what happpened? Military service should be attractive to
anyone wanting to get a good start in life. Even the 24 month
draftees will tell you that.
There is pre-testing for certain MOS’s today. Cyber warfare is the most notable. You have to understand a number of programming languages before they will let you in the MOS. The school is already over a year long they don’t have time to teach you all the programming languages on top of that. There is a line of people waiting to join that particular job and it is a 6-year minimum commitment. There’s also a lot of testing to change into that MOS from somewhere else.
But the money on the other side of that is, no shit, the stuff of dreams and legends. Plus if you were into that, the work can be fascinating.
And this is what’s driving the robotization of the military.
“Excellent!” –AI says
Plus they don’t owe allegiance to a higher/The Highest Authority.
(edit for misreading recalculation formulation in responseification)
Doesn’t matter what country, those drawn by the military “calling” will be 80% male and of the majority racial/ethnic group in that country. How it is. If is China, that’s asian Chinese males. In Ireland, it’s white Irish males. Period.
Guess which demographic in America ain’t being encouraged? Just sayin’.
I am going to guess that at least people in that picture have a penis.
I am also guessing somebody got their Christmas Party invitation revoked.
And TPTB wonder why recruitment and retention among young, white, conservative males is so low?
There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.
Not only “ain’t being encouraged”, but constantly insulted by the attitude and actions of the current administration. Let those pushing this send their own kids.
In 1992, I was promised “No More Task Force Smiths”. We shall see.
In 1986 I was promised, repeatedly, “Not another Vietnam”.
So the politicrats fucking gave us two more Vietnams. Plus some mini-Nams. Imbecilic Fuckheads.
Not “counterinsurgency”. Not “nation building”. Conquer the fuckers and mop up afterwards.
“Mop up”. It actually works
Let’s just take the Army.
A year or two of small recruitment misses is easily recoverable.
We are now going on three years of 10-15,000 misses that the democratmarxists admit. That’s four entire divisions…poof.
Or, more insidiously.
Because “Tier One” units will always be manned at 100% (82d, 101st, Korea, etc), it means all other units are severely undermanned.
That it takes about four years to create a competent E5/E6 or O3, that your tactical “last 100 yards” leadership is now being hollowed out.
That SF and Ranger now have much smaller pools to recruit…and these will start to hollow out even more.
It’s a cancer that affects the entire army body.
Are divisions that much smaller now? That used to be 1-1.5 divisions.
In the late 90s we weren’t allowed to say the words “Hollow Army” because it just wasn’t happening so said the OIC of denial.
1975 all over again.
Was overseas with shocked Americans both times. Déjà vu! Only happened faster this latest time. Just hope (Gen X, baby!) we don’t have the music back again, too.
CH-45 bureau number 154038 had once belonged to the USMC (USS Hancock) and used during the evacuation in Saigon. Fast forward to 2012, the same helicopter was transferred to the U.S. State Department and redesignated as N38TU, which was used during the evacuation in Kabul.
Think I may’ve seen it while I was at Bagram.
They had to bring back a State Dept staffers’s Blackberry they’d left on a sight-seeing itinerary… a Blackberry 9930, just like i had (quad-band, internationally enabled, with the titanium chassis)… but the pilot landed, brought it over to us– we’re not worthy, we bowed.
P.S. Humorously, that it is.
Which is cool and fucked up at the same time.
Until we start honoring everyone’s preferred pronoun choice, this nation doesn’t deserve security. /s
“The War Between the States” streamers gone.
Next up for you Colonizers, (fiery, yet) Mostly Peaceful™ relinquishing of Indian War streamers and heraldry emblems from unit crests.
It’s for The Greater Good®, Comrade.
The Revolution is being televised… in Pink-o-vision, set to muzak versions of show tunes.
Now, get on zee train.
Next thing you know, they’ll get rid of the 7th Cavalry.
https://youtu.be/DzyPtgcJvko?si=VtimYxfkorAxv9ay
Some excerpts from the FY24 NDAA Conference Bill:
Sec. 401 – End Strength for Active Force. This section adjusts USMC end strength from the FY23 authorization of 177,000 Marines to the requested level of 172,300. This is a reduction of 4,700 Marines.
Sec. 411 – End Strengths for Selected Reserve. This provision sets the end strength for the Marine Corps Reserve at 32,000 Marines.
Sec. 522 – Prohibition on policy of the DoD regarding identification of gender or personal pronouns in official correspondence. This provision directs that the Department may neither require nor prohibit members of the armed forces or DoD civilian employees from listing their gender or pronouns in official correspondence.
Sec. 526 – Consideration of reinstatement of a member of the Armed Forces involuntarily separated based on refusal to receive a vaccination against COVID-19. At the request of a covered individual during the two years following the date of the involuntary separation of the covered individual, Military Secretaries shall consider reinstating military members who were involuntarily separated due to requirement to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.
Sec. 528 – Certain members discharged or dismissed on the sole basis of failure to obey a lawful order to receive a vaccine for COVID–19: communication strategy regarding reinstatement process. This provision requires the SecDef, within 6 months, to communicate to discharged individuals the current, established process by which they may be reinstated in the service. The USMC has already completed this requirement.
Sec. 529B – Limitation on establishment of new DEI positions; hiring freeze. This section freezes the establishment of any new positions within DoD with responsibility for matters relating to DEI until the Comptroller General of the U.S. submits a review of the DoD.
While working at FORSCOM I saw the Army’s plan for dealing with reduced end strength. It was not pretty.
Force structure is not being cut or reduced. Units are just not at 100%.
Some MOS are critical, like a shortage of several thousand 19K’s (tankers).
The cynical reason for no force structure cuts? The Army NEEDS those Colonel billets (where else are they gonna get the next generation of GOs?)
This. Unit end strength doesn’t matter to upper echelon leadership. The unit (and its opportunity for command billets) does. Why else would we have stood up at least two Division HQs since 2012? I know it’s more complex than that, but let’s see. In 2015 we axed the fourth brigades that most divisions got in 2004 and downsized others. When I arrived at Fort Stewart in 2012, 3ID had three IN BDEs there and one at Benning. By the time I got to Benning four years later, Stewart had two IN BDEs, and 3rd BDE had been reduced to TF 1-28. Shortly afterward, the 1st SFAB (the “Brown Berets” that caused some controversy due to their mission and choice of headgear) was stood up on Kelley Hill. COL billet, albeit with a battalion-sized unit. So, Big Army got to reduce the number of required personnel while keeping those sweet, sweet COL positions.
By my math, we added two MG command slots (of course, GOs are capped by Congress), while replacing the 4th BCTs with six SFATs (all around 800 personnel and commanded by a COL who’d lead around 4k personnel in a BCT). According to this, the Army cut about 15 BCTs between 2012-2017: Army BCT cuts, reorganization coming as service loses 40K more soldiers (armytimes.com), while also cutting some battalions.
On a personal note, even the 3rd US Infantry Regiment “The Old Guard” was affected by the manpower reductions, despite “growing” between my times there. During my time in A/1-3 IN (2004-2008), we always had sufficient personnel to conduct missions, maybe having to rely on the Backup Company for a second Escort element on occasion. Even when D/1-3 went to Djibouti in 2006, the Regiment ran like normal, with five companies sharing Arlington rotations. Maybe it was the fact that we were at McNair, but I enjoyed that time there.
In 2008, 4th Battalion was reactivated. Should have made things even easier, right? Another LTC and CSM, a little less load on the troops, everything spread out just a little more? Not quite. A/4-3 and E/4-3 were pulled out of the Cemetery sometime between 2009 and 2018, leaving the four 1/3 companies to do funerals.
I reported again in 2018 and became Escort PSG, with one minor issue: 1st PLT had about 22 Soldiers. Here’s the break down for Escort PLT’s manning during ANC rotations:
Guidon Bearer x1
Colors Team x4
Escort x18 (“3×6”)
Supernumerary (for fallouts)
Route Restraints (number depends on location of funeral, certain profiles can be used, and this is usually a company-wide tasking)
Factor in sick call, profiles, and so on, and I had to borrow personnel from Firing Party and Caskets to have even one Escort element. Soldiers in CAT IV status were routinely told to cancel necessary appointments that they were ordered to make a month or two prior, because the company leadership didn’t want to have to ask Backup Company for Soldiers.
Okay, I’ll stop bitching, but suffice to say that I can’t have 21 Soldiers (minimum) marching when I only have 18 able to march. After a few months, the JFHQ was a very nice penultimate assignment, and I hate to say I didn’t miss Myer and consider Alpha my only true tour in TOG.