As military recruiting numbers dip to record lows, Army morale is crushed

It will come as no surprise to patriots, but it may surprise the Leftists who are sure that they can keep using Americans who love this country as their drones and cannon fodder on an indefinite basis: hardly anyone wants to join Old Joe Biden’s woke military. That’s perfectly understandable. Why go through all the trouble of going through training and risk getting sent to some unnecessary war when you can learn about Critical Race Theory and get vaccinated right at home? Recruitment levels are lower than they’ve been in decades, and instead of doing something about it, Biden’s handlers are working to drive the morale of military personnel even lower.

According to a Sunday report from WTOV in Steubenville, Ohio, “in 2022, the U.S. Army fell 15,000 recruits short of its goal.” Francis Nwiah, captain and commander, U.S. Army Bridgeport Recruiting, said, “It’s a national security concern. We are struggling to get folks into the Army right now.” Nwiah blamed the Shanghai Sniffles: “We got hit by COVID, that affected our modus operandi and how we operate as recruiters.” He didn’t say anything about relentless Leftist indoctrination and the politicization of the military, however, and that’s more likely to be the problem.

To try to get the recruitment numbers back up, the Army is spending $117 million to dust off its 1980s slogan, “Be All You Can Be,” and that’s terrific, because the slogan has so much more resonance now than it did in the Reagan era. Now a male recruit may decide that he wants to be all that he can be by becoming a female recruit, and the Army (using your money, of course) will pay for surgery to reinforce his delusion.

A catchy jingle, however, is not going to be enough. And so, in its characteristic tone-deaf and ham-handed manner, the Biden regime has made another move that is meant to improve Army morale and even foster a pursuit of excellence, but which in practice is likely only to cause resentment and division in the ranks.

Military.com reported Wednesday that “the III Armored Corps, headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas, released a new policy earlier this year restricting which tank crews can name their vehicles.” The new rule “limits the ability to name tanks to crews who score in the highest bracket during gunnery — a qualification meant to measure how effective a crew is in combat.”

We’ve all seen this. The practice is better known in connection with aircraft, dating back to World War II, but during that war, soldiers also gave their tanks nicknames, and this practice has continued. Lt. Col. Tania Donovan, a spokesperson for the III Armored Corps, stated, “Naming a fighting platform is a long-standing tradition that we value.” If that’s the case, then why restrict the practice? Military.com explains that “the change in policy is the result of a desire to incentivize crews to perform better during gunnery.” Donovan added, “The III Armored Corps has [an] obligation to our nation to be prepared to fight and win anywhere in the world at any time. Accordingly, we must demand excellence of ourselves in order to meet that obligation, particularly in our competitive and unpredictable world.” That’s great, but not as great as it seems at first glance.

Military.com also quoted a “currently serving field-grade armor officer” who wished to remain anonymous. This officer observed, “My immediate reaction is that this will alienate junior crews while ensuring that officers get to name their tanks,” because “leaders in officer positions like platoon leader through battalion commander are often given the best gunners. That leaves other, typically junior troops, working with less experienced gunners who are less likely to score highly during gunnery, although the officer said that they still have a responsibility to do well.” This officer added, “But to deny them the ability to name their tanks while almost ensuring that [officers] will, due to the experience of their gunner, creates a dichotomous culture that doesn’t breed competition, but animosity.”

Wonderful. Animosity is all we need in Old Joe Biden’s army. The troops have already been browbeaten with Critical Race Theory, vaccine mandates, and pandering to the fashionable gender madness. To institute a policy now that will just breed animosity is absurdly counterproductive, especially during this period of low-to-nonexistent recruitment. Do Biden’s handlers want to sabotage the United States military? If they really did, what would they be doing differently?