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In addition to the disciplined disobedience required to execute effective
mission command, the US Army is facing a dire combination of a recruiting
shortfall and a shrinking Individual Ready Reserve. This recruiting shortfall,
nearly 50 percent in the combat arms career management fields, is a longitudinal
problem. Every infantry and armor soldier we do not recruit today is a strategic
mobilization asset we will not have in 2031. The Individual Ready Reserve,
which stood at 700,000 in 1973 and 450,000 in 1994, now stands at 76,000.
These numbers cannot fill the existing gaps in the active force, let alone
any casualty replacement or expansion during a large-scale combat operation.
The implication is that the 1970s concept of an all-volunteer force has outlived
its shelf life and does not align with the current operating environment.
The technological revolution described below suggests this force has reached
obsolescence. Large-scale combat operations troop requirements may well
require a reconceptualization of the 1970s and 1980s volunteer force and
a move toward partial conscription.

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77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs and more to join military, Pentagon study finds

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Army recruits are out of shape, injuries costing millions, study says
A recent study found that Army recruits are entering the service in increasingly poor physical condition, costing the service millions in medical care as the military faces a general recruiting crisis.

An increasing rate of Army recruits not fit for service is leading to a high rate of injuries during their initial training, according to a study in the journal Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, Military Times reported.

The study found that nearly 35 percent of Army recruits in initial training suffered at least one musculoskeletal injury during exercises in fiscal year 2017. About 62 percent of the female trainees suffered one of those injuries, compared with 32 percent of males.

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America’s Military Bases Are Slowly Falling Apart

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