JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
As 9/11 approached, we found ourselves 21 years on from the horrific events of that day. The world has changed dramatically since, and much ink has been spent on histories, memorials and the aftermath of that day.
But this year is different. It will be the first full year since U.S. troops completed the withdrawal from Afghanistan Aug. 30, 2022, and the first time U.S. combat troops are not actively engaged against those responsible for that day in September 2001.
Yet, the Armed Forces are struggling to find recruits suitable for military service. The worst of the COVID-19-related recruiting restrictions are now gone and the economy is working its way back. Could the lack of a central purpose or focus be the cause?
Many potential recruits have no memory of that morning when the planes struck the Twin Towers and the final withdrawal from Afghanistan has left limited operational opportunities for most of the force.
Rand studies conducted in 2001 and 2018 had the same data findings. Potential recruits sought benefits and pay over deployments and service. Advertising has shifted toward marketable skill sets and advanced schooling, where there is a larger emphasis on what the services can provide and less on patriotism.
With no major conflicts with which to recruit for, the services compete against each other and the civilian job market, with bigger signing bonuses and other recruiting tools to build needed end strength.
Unlike in the days after Pearl Harbor, recruiting offices didn’t experience massive lines of patriotic Americans enlisting after 9/11. It was more of a steady increase in manpower as the U.S. ramped up operations in two theaters of war.
It created a constant sense of purpose, to strike at an enemy that had harmed Americans at home. One didn’t have to think long or hard as to why they were deploying, regardless of personal feelings.
A significant portion of Gen Z weren’t born until after 9/11 or were so young they don’t remember the attacks.
They have lived with memorials, documentaries, newscast replays and social media posts. They have become desensitized to the events of that day. It no longer stirs the heart strings of a once patriotic nation.
This generation may have missed the horror and fear that 9/11 generated, but they also missed the unity of purpose many felt. Much ink has been spent on those accounts as well. We had purpose; the nation looked at each other a little different in the days after the attacks. Flags and stickers were everywhere. As a country, we knew what was coming and we prepared for it.
After 20-plus years of deployments, ramp ceremonies and funerals, America is ready to move on, however unsteadily, into the future.
Shiny slogans, slick advertising and promises of bonuses may drive the recruits to enlist, but throughout America’s history, events beyond her control have forced its sons and daughters to be patriots and have given our nation a unity of purpose.