DECEMBER 28, 2023 — I feel blessed as a veteran and public affairs specialist when I can capture the spirit of a new Soldier ‘forward marching’ onto a bright career over the open, green fields of hope.
It is refreshing to hear young people speak with optimism about the Army, and in my experience young people more often approach life with a beginner’s mind—which from my view would be closer to ideal.
When I taught high school English in my previous career, I was daily surrounded by these fresh perspectives, and it feels sometimes here at this training base in Central Virginia that I am circling back.
Recently, I had the privilege of interviewing 19-year-old twins who chose to train together and carry-on a family legacy of military service.
They spoke with such reverence for their family’s dedication to country and had such enthusiasm for their own, that it rekindled in me thoughts of my family’s service history and a reflection on why I first joined.
It was really nice.
Then, at home after work, I listened to talking heads explain why the Army isn’t meeting its recruiting goals.
They explained their opinions that since youth today are more informed, the Army is less able to trick them into service, and they concluded that fewer people serve now ‘just because’ a family member served.
I wondered at how jaded a person must be to carry that perspective—that the Army was in the business of tricking American youth—because I would look at it more along the lines of the Army offering them opportunities.
As well, as a former educator, I wondered at the validity of the statement that young people today are more informed. Surely, young people have more access to information, but isn’t there a difference between having access to more information and being more informed?
In regard to American youth’s knowledge on the U.S. military, I can say assuredly there is a difference.
They themselves admit they are not informed.
About 75% of ‘Generation Z’ Americans said they know little to nothing about the U.S. military, according to a 2023 U.S. Army Recruiting Command survey.
I can, however, think of a special set of young Americans who are likely to know plenty about the military—those who had a close family member serve.
That is, by the way, who is generally joining the Army among young people, those who know the most about it.
According to U.S. Army recruiting data, 83% of young men and women coming into the Army are coming from military families.
It might be that young people are increasingly influenced by social media and electronic devices, but youth still learn most from their families—parents and other close relatives.
“We’re really good at recruiting our kids,” said Mark Overberg, Director of Army Retirement Services-Soldier For Life, to a group of retired service members at a recent Retiree Appreciation Day event at Fort Gregg-Adams. “Why do our kids join? Because they see what it is that military service does, and they like that. And they want that.”
For me, what Overberg said here is profound. Family members have the keenest insight into how military service can positively impact their loved ones who serve. In many cases, they can compare who a person was before joining the military with who that person became.
They know best and often will hear the peaks and valleys of a Soldier’s day-to-day as they traverse their Army career. It says a lot for the Army that so many kids whose parents served would want to join because they will know all—the good, bad and ugly. They know what they are getting themselves into.
I know my Mom and Dad brought home plenty of negative stories from their careers as a postal worker and machinist, respectively, and little positive. Never did I feel drawn toward either of those jobs, but my Dad, for example, took pride in his prior service as an Avionic Instrument Systems Repairer in the Air Force.
As well, everyone in my family revered my grandfather’s service as an Army mechanic in World War II and two of my uncles’ Army service in the Vietnam era.
I can say with certainty that I did not join ‘just because’ family members served, but I did join ‘because’ I understood that serving the American people and helping protect freedoms was work I could take pride in ‘because’ I would be positively impacting American society and the world.
Granted, some in my family advised me not to join, and it’s on the same grounds as the number one reason why Americans say they wouldn’t advise a family member to join—because it’s “too dangerous.”
According to a recent Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute survey, 21% of Americans cited “too dangerous” as the reason they would discourage loved ones from joining the military.
That’s fair. We are a volunteer force, and the U.S. Army is only asking its citizens to search their own consciences to see if they are up for supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States.
Legacy recruits will know best what that means, and they are not the source of the Army’s recruiting woes.
Story by Chad Menegay
Fort Gregg-Adams