US Army male enlistment plunges by 35% in past decade
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The figures show that female enlistment in the US Army has remained steady at approximately 10,000 recruits annually.
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A Romanian policeman watches as US military personnel attend a transfer of authority ceremony from the 101st Airborne Division to the 10th Mountain Division in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, April 5, 2023. (AP)
Male enlistment in the US military has dropped by 35% over the past decade, decreasing from around 58,000 recruits in 2013 to 37,700 last year, Military.com reported, citing US Army data.
On the other hand, the figures show that female enlistment in the US Army has remained steady at approximately 10,000 recruits annually.
This decline in male enlistment has resulted in the Army failing to meet its recruiting targets. Last year, the largest US military branch missed its goal by about 10,000 enlistments and by 15,000 in 2022. Other branches have experienced similar shortfalls. Consequently, the Army reduced its enlistment target this year by 10,000 troops, setting a goal of 55,000.
US Representative Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) and other conservative politicians have attributed the recruiting crisis to “woke ideology”, which they claim prioritizes criteria such as race, gender, and sexual orientation over combat readiness.
The latest Reagan National Defense Survey, released in November, found that only 46% of Americans have a “great deal” of trust in the US military, down from 70% in 2018. About half of the respondents cited “woke” practices as a reason for this decline.
But the Military.com report highlighted that broader societal issues also contribute to the decline in male enlistment. Experts point to a “national crisis of masculinity” affecting American men. Suicide and drug overdose rates have risen, while men are less likely to attend college or build a career. As a result, US men are "slowly disappearing from the general workforce."
This "trend goes way beyond military recruitment," suggested Ronald Levant, an Ohio psychology professor and former president of the American Psychological Association.
"It really has to do with social change. I think there is an amotivational syndrome that seems to permeate a lot of young men today. They’re just not motivated to do very much," he explained.
As of last month, only 64.9% of US men held jobs, down from over 84% in the 1950s, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. During the same period, female participation in the labor force has nearly doubled, reaching 55.4%.
