A MAJORITY OF AMERICAN ADULTS WOULD NOT BE willing to serve in the military were the U.S. to enter into a major war, recent polling has found, while public confidence in the armed forces appears to be waning.
The figures come as all branches of the armed forces have in recent years struggled to meet their recruitment targets, suggesting a growing apathy toward a career of military service. In 2023, the Army and Air Force fell short of their respective goals by around 10,000 recruits, while the Navy was under by 6,000. Since 1987, the number of active-duty personnel has fallen by 39 percent.
Experts say that such shortfalls are worrisome in an increasingly volatile global picture with American leadership unsure when it will next have to bring its full military force to bear.
“We have strike groups, aircraft carriers with a Marine Expeditionary Unit outside Israel now,” Justin Henderson, a former transport operator for the U.S. Marines turned military recruiter, tells “We’re funding two wars, but we’re actually boots on the ground, drones above Gaza. So we’re already involved in there—and we’re not sure what’s happening in Taiwan. So this is a very tumultuous time for us, because
