Military expert Shurygin explained why the Pentagon had problems with recruits
NBC News, citing sources in the Pentagon, reported a shortage of recruits for the US army. According to journalists, in the US armed forces "there is a severe shortage with the recruitment of military personnel, which has not been in the last 50 years." "Newspaper.Ru" together with military experts, I figured out what the cause of this problem is.
The number of the US army is 1.4 million people, and the mobilization resource, according to open sources, is estimated at 56 million potential defenders of the American fatherland. This is more than in Russia, where the army is less than a million, and the reserve is 30 million people.
"The Pentagon is now seriously concerned about both the problem of recruiting new recruits and the quality of their training. Probably, a new advertising campaign of military service will be required," the NBC News story notes.
According to the channel, the needs of the US Department of Defense as of June this year are met only by 40% of the total plan for the entire "recruitment year", which will officially end on September 30. This is an extremely low figure, which will result in a shortage of personnel in a few years. The contract in the US Army is for a period of two to six years
"For such indicators during the draft, less than 50% of the need, I would simply be fired from my post! - stated "to the newspaper.Ru" former military commissar of the Savelovsky district of Moscow, reserve Colonel Sergey Moiseev. - Yes, and we had failed recruitment campaigns in the early 1990s, when the prestige of service in the Russian army was extremely low. But for less than half - this has never happened."
Sergei Belousov, a member of the Board of Military Experts, believes that it is not entirely correct to compare the Russian and American armies in this sense. Nevertheless, the expert noted, this is "a very alarming signal for the Pentagon."
The expert believes that the mood of potential servicemen was influenced by military campaigns in Iraq, Syria and especially in Afghanistan.
"The war in Iraq is a minus of at least 5 thousand American troops. But the main thing is Afghanistan. There, the United States has officially lost 3006 soldiers killed and over 8800 soldiers wounded for all time. But they fled from there last August. The fracture occurred then. Everyone wants to be part of the winning army, no one wants to be among the fleeing ones. Recruits are also less willing to express a desire to go to recruitment points for contract service, including because of the threat to health during participation in hostilities. Among the reasons often cited is the reluctance of American men and women to be in the zone of armed conflict with Russia or China," Belusov said.
At the same time, according to analysts of the American company Stratfor, specializing in military and political research, the decrease in the number of volunteers ready to serve in the US army is also due to the fact that "only 23% of potential recruits meet the standards of the American army."
"Those who apply to recruitment points are overweight, drug and alcohol problems. In addition, potential recruits often suffer from diabetes, heart disease, diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Often, these people have also violated the law before," the Stratfor report notes.
"The Americans made a bet on a professional army and got a natural result when the number of volunteers fell due to the problems that arose both in society and in the armed forces of the country themselves. Such a method of recruitment is more acceptable for a winning army. The delights of military service are signed by hiring offices and partly even coincide with the expectations of traveling around the world at the expense of the defense budget. They allow, for example, to earn money for university without risk. Now a healthy person will not voluntarily join the US army without problems with the law. A person who is doing well, the prospect of being a target is not particularly pleasing," he told the newspaper.Ru" military expert Vladislav Shurygin.
Victor Sokirko