LANSING, Mich — The U.S. military says recruitment is down — and they're thousands of service members short of their goals.
I recently took a trip to theMichigan National Guardheadquarters to find out why people aren't enlisting— and what the military is doing to bring those numbers up.
“My grandpa had served,” United States Air National Guard firefighter, Josh Cornett told me. “I knew it was something that I would do at some point.”
Army National Guard Cadet Laila Denning graduates from Michigan State University in April and will be commissioned as a medical services corps officer.
“And really, for most of my life, I knew that I wanted to be in the military, just like my dad,” Denning explained.
Both have an affinity for life in the service, linked to family.
Both chose different paths to enlist— Denning coming up through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) at MSU, while Cornett joined later in life.
Their interest in joining the military, however, is becoming an exception among their peers.
Colonel Ravi Wagh serves as the Michigan Army National Guard Commander and has watched the recruitment numbers dwindle over the last few decades.
“It's not just a Michigan challenge,” Wagh said. “It's a national challenge.”
Right now, the Michigan Army National Guard is about 10% short of its service member goal.
In 2023, the US military missed its recruitment goal by about 41,000 recruits according to American Military News.
But, why?
The answer may come down to perception.
“My mother was in the Navy and she tells me stories about what it was like for her as a woman in the Navy in the 60s," Wagh remembers. "And it wasn't wasn't great.”
A recent Pew Research poll finds adults under 30 have a negative view of the military.
Colonel Wagh believes they need more women enlistees.
“Our demographics aren't where they need to be,” Wagh said. “If we were where we needed to be, then the Michigan Army National Guard would be about half and half like, like society and it's about 20% right now.”
But recruiting women who— unlike Cornett, Denning , and Wagh— have no ties to the uniform may be the real challenge.
The Michigan National Guard needs mechanics as well as cyber protection and communications specialists, while the Air National Guard has aircraft armament and maintenance positions to fill. Not typically positions recruiters market to women.
“How do I find her and put her into the Michigan Army National Guard to see the things that she can get out of this that's going to benefit her?” Wagh wondered aloud during our visit.
The answer could be in something both Denning and Cornett told us.
“You get good benefits,” Josh said.
“You get pretty good education benefits, no matter which way you join.”
The U.S. Military branches offer signing bonuses and longer-reaching benefits like financial aid, reduced-cost housing, paid vacation, and retired-pay plans, to name a few.
It's in promoting those benefits, improving understanding and access to them, and building a welcoming culture for women that the military could find a way to turn around their recruitment numbers.
For now, only time— and the evolving public opinion of life in the service— will tell.
