Americans Don't Want to Fight for Their Country

While the armed services struggle to meet recruiting targets, most adults wouldn't sign up even in the event of a major war

-  ALEKS PHILIPP

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 Newsweek. "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 we don't know what's going to happen."

"How much it matters depends on what kind of people you're talking about and which bit you're not getting," Tom Shugart, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a former Navy attack submarine commander, tells Newsweek.

While infantry recruits can be trained in a matter of weeks, the same is not true for other roles. "Let's say the Navy misses recruiting targets for an extended period and wasn't able to bring on the people that it needs to manage submarines and fly its airplanes....if you end up in a major conflict, it's going to take time to train those people," he says.