The Army has been ordered to increase its size within the next five years. To do so, it has begun retaining troops.
In addition to the problem of fewer recruits, the new "Couch-potato" generation is posing a difficult challenge for the military to overcome.
Fewer and fewer people are potential recruits.
Promotion has increased due to the need for supervision for the troops, often resulting in incompetent leaders.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1108/p02s04-usmi.html?page=1
What do you think about:
-incompetent leaders
-retention of troops for longer than originally agreed
-the "couch-potato" generation
-increasing the military's size
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7 comments:
I think the process that the military has taken to increase its size has created many problems. If the military is promoting incompetent leaders to high commanding ranks, those leaders would make irrational decisions because of either inexperience or lack of reason. This would lead to a lot of trouble because those bad decisions could cost soldiers their lives. Their retention of troops for longer than originally agreed would most likely anger the American people and the troops themselves. They would view this as a government attempt to gain more power because it would be breaking agreements set between the troops and the military. This act would also anger the troops because they would be forced to serve a longer term than they agreed to. If the military wants to increase its size, it should start by making new terms with future recruits, not by forcing those terms on existing troops.
Well, if no one enlists, then our army would slowly cease to exist. Since we do need an army, it seems like it would be best to find a way to get more recruits because without recruits, there aren't any capable leaders, and like Will said, having incompetent leaders would be bad. While this generation could easily be considered a "couch-potato" generation, I think there are other factors behind people not joining the army as well. For instance, the lack of support for the war in Iraq means that people probably avoid joining the army because they don't believe in the war, so there's no reason for them to help. I think if the army were to take measures such as leaving Iraq, and making themselves more popular, they would get more recruits and have a larger pool to pull from when choosing their officers.
I agree with William, the process the military is using is creating so many problems. there is so much propaganda and advertaising and on top of that the army is reaching out to more and more public places to spread their "message". It is obvious thqat the army is in need of recruits and it is also obvious that they are having a hard time getting them. The fact that they are coming into schools and placing phone calls to individuals seems a little over the edge.
incompetent leaders is unexceptable for our situation. We definitely need the best leaders. I think it is unfair for troops who have to stay longer than they agreed to. They made an agreement and the army should stick to it. I think this generation is definitely lazier, but i also understand that people wouldn't want to fight for a war that they don't support or that has no clear goal. I think that is a major reason why many people don't want to join the army.
I think its unfair for the government to retain troops if its violating the original contract they made with the soldier. The government should make new contracts with longer terms for the new generation of troops. Even though this new generation is definitely more lazy, having longer terms will hopefully solve some of the problem because the people who are really serious about serving the country and joining the army hopefully wont mind having longer terms. However, its going to be harder to recruit people because already this generation is known to be lazy, and the fact that there is a war going on makes enlisting seem less appealing, and with longer contracts I think the enlistment rate will decrease a lot. Having incompetent leaders in unacceptable because America should have one of the most advanced militaries. Having incompetent leaders while there is a war going on is not comforting, and unfair for the troops that have to follow the commands of an incompetent leader.
Enlisting in the military used to be one of the most respectable things an individual could do. Nowadays, to some it still is and to others it is considered stupid. Who would willing risk their life some ask? Well my stance is that what has happened is our society has drifted away from the respect the military use to give an individual. It used to be almost a guarantee that an American president had served his nation in the service. Now we have a presidential candidate who is running that cannot even fight on the front lines. We use to have leaders made in the military that would move on to be the business leaders of America. Now we have individuals who are no longer physically/mentally able to be military leaders becoming CEOs and business leaders. My thoughts are that if the military made it so they would take individuals that would be able to lead and not necessarily have to risk their lives, we might be in a better position.
I think that there is a reason that people aren't joining the army to begin with. There are definately enough young people that support the war, but the problem is that people aren't given a good enough reason to join the army. Those who join the army know they may go to Iraq, and may have to stay there for a very long period of time. They are aware that many of the soldiers stationed in Iraq are dissatisfied, and they may just not have enough reasons to enlist.
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