CV NEWS FEED // A political scientist is blaming the unprecedented shortage in military recruitment in the government’s decision to turn American armed forces into an experimental ground for woke policies.
In a recent X post, Kevin Wallsten, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Political Science at California State University, presents statistical data showing that “the percentage of military family members who would recommend service to their children dropped from 55% in 2016 to 32% in 2023.”
“Relatedly the military fell 41,000 recruits short of its 2023 goal & it is now at its smallest size since 1940,” the post also says.
In his Substack account “The Missing Data Depot,” Wallsten has previously asked why so few young people are willing to serve in the military. “For some conservative observers, the answer is obvious: the Pentagon’s increasingly “woke” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies are alienating the groups most inclined to serve in the armed forces (white conservatives, white Southerners, and whites living in rural areas).”
Wallsten provides links to previous analysts making the same argument. In particular, he points to an analysis authored by Jimmy Byrn, a graduate at Yale Law School, former U.S. Army armor officer and board member of “Vets on Duty.”
In a piece published in 2022 by the Wall Street Journal, “What if They Gave a War and Everybody Was Woke?,” Byrne explains that the competitive labor market, which current military leaders blame for the recruitment shortage, cannot be regarded as a significant reason.
“The unemployment rate today sits at 3.6%—roughly the same as in 2019. Yet in 2019 the Army exceeded its recruiting goals,” Byrne wrote.
“What, then, explains the shift? Perhaps one answer lies in the Pentagon’s wholesale embrace of woke politics,” he observed.
“Added to the mix has been divisive gender activism,” Byrne wrote, explaining that “not only have such measures affected unit morale, according to some service members, they’ve also amounted to a form of antirecruitment for prospective enlistees. The Pentagon is appealing to activists at the expense of those most likely to serve.”
“A military that appears to abandon its apolitical role will have a harder time attracting large numbers of warriors and patriots to its ranks. Welcoming woke policies under a warped idea of inclusion may serve to exclude those who are traditionally more likely to serve,” he concluded.
