Could the American armed force solve their recruiting problems by offering a pre-boot camp focused on mental and physical health?

[Betonhaus]

There are many reasons why the armed forces are having a recruiting crisis, but a major reason is that recruits are being rejected (or not even applying) because they are out of shape or are on antidepressants and such. I believe a pre-bootcamp program would allow the armed forces to have a larger pool of candidates to recruit from - and could even get more applicants from people seeking a solution to their persistent weight problems and such.

The pre-boot program would effectively be a government funded fat camp, where the people who enlist are paid to spend every day exercising and getting stronger and healthier. They would be instilled with healthy lifestyle routines and learn self-care skills like cooking, and learn better social and communication skills. The program would also be an opportunity to let select candidates taper off their medications - or at least the meds deemed to be due to poor fitness and lifestyle choices.

I'm confident that there is a large untapped market of potential recruits that would make excellent soldiers, providing they had the time and structure needed to improve themselves without having to worry about employment. It may also be possible for the program to help recruits deal with major financial debts, by negotiating debts with a consumer proposal, offering financial literacy training, and maybe a signing bonus if the recruit got offered a job and is expected to pass the preboot program with flying colors.

 

[007Eleven]

Beggars can't be choosers.

 

[Battlefield2142EU]

No wants to fight and die for a gay country that hate you being non-black American and straight.

 

[Betonhaus]

No wants to fight and die for a gay country that hate you being non-black American and straight.

Yes, but joining the military is the closest thing to an isekai that we have in this reality. I know many people who would jump at the opportunity to improve their health and mental discipline without having to worry about money the whole time, even if it means dying for their country. You'd probably get a sizeable number of applicants just by promising them abs.

I suppose the biggest problem is that they would be recruiting from liberal hellholes and not republican towns and countryside, so they won't be able to brainwash people that haven't already been brainwashed.

 

[Troonos]

No, but they could solve it by not alienating the demographic that comprises most of their recruitment pool.

 

[Seedling]

Yes, but joining the military is the closest thing to an isekai that we have in this reality.

I was reading your OP with interest and thinking you might be onto something, and then the very next post you start the first sentence by comparing military service to an Isekai anime.
Fucking whiplash

 

[Betonhaus]

I was reading your OP with interest and thinking you might be onto something, and then the very next post you start the first sentence by comparing military service to an Isekai anime.
Fucking whiplash

Isekais are popular because it's a scenario where people escape a life of dull misery for one filled with adventure, where they are able to become much stronger and have people who depend on them. It's a suitable analog for joining the military, but admittedly a cringy metaphor.

Honestly if millitaries are desperate for recruits they need to offer something that is wanted. Giving people a purpose and direction alone usually works, but too many people feel trapped by their own weight and personal situations. Providing them an opportunity to free themselves from that trap would get many people who would jump on the opportunity, especially with many having difficulty getting good well paying work.

 

[Seedling]

Isekais are popular because it's a scenario where people escape a life of dull misery for one filled with adventure, where they are able to become much stronger and have people who depend on them. It's a suitable analog for joining the military, but admittedly a cringy metaphor.

I understood the comparasion it was just bizarre on the first take.
But to seriously answer, no.
The dems only want to command authority from ivory towers, not enforce it so any appeal to them to join up will be futile doesn't matter how you dress it, not to mention that most of the young democrat base is extremly anti-army and would gag at the idea of serving, the only people who would join with the idea of getting their shit togheter is conservatives, but they don't want those anymore and the current army goals are the complete opposite of what conservatives want so no, it would do jackshit because the priorities of the army awfully misalign with the people who would actually sign up for it

 

[♦️ King of Diamonds ♦️]

I am thoroughly convinced that a very sizable portion of US Military and Defense spending is just outright stolen by DoD Officials, Corrupt Generals, and Military Contractors and put into their yacht/vacation/mansion funds. It's gotta be at least a fifth of the entire budget.

There's just no fucking way the dollar amounts supposedly being spent on "le greatest military evar!!!!" consistently gets it's ass reamed and thoroughly kicked time and time again by Vietnamese rice farmers and illiterate goat herders with little more than rusty AKMs and leather sandals. The US hasn't won a single major war in over 79 years- the Italians have a better track record lol. it's laughable people keep projecting it to be a completely unstoppable force.

 

[Betonhaus]

I understood the comparasion it was just bizarre on the first take.
But to seriously answer, no.
The dems only want to command authority from ivory towers, not enforce it so any appeal to them to join up will be futile doesn't matter how you dress it, not to mention that most of the young democrat base is extremly anti-army and would gag at the idea of serving, the only people who would join with the idea of getting their shit togheter is conservatives, but they don't want those anymore and the current army goals are the complete opposite of what conservatives want so no, it would do jackshit because the priorities of the army awfully misalign with the people who would actually sign up for it

That is a concern that can't be dealt with easily, but it's important to remember that a lot of mostly-able-bodied men are really not doing well, either not finding work due to being pushed out by DEI initiatives or simply being unhealthy by being stuck in an emotional rut or having poor access to nutrition. And many (like me) may desperately want to escape the bughives they are stuck in but don't have the skills or resources to do so. Enlisting in an army that has a preboot program would help with that, and dealing with terrible millitary leaders would still be better then the life they had before.

Of course that depends on if the millitary leaders even have the capability to acknowledge that such a program would be a great idea. They may refuse to touch it because it's fatphobic. Plus if you are assuming that the recruits will commit to being healthy you'll likely need to raise the intelligence requirements to be accepted into preboot, and that is not ESG compliant.

Plus there's still questions like how long should the program be? Should it focus on significant weight loss or just getting the recruits healthy enough that they can enlist with a continued weight loss during their regular training? How much financial incentives should be offered with the program? Would the program run before the applicants get their offer running the risk they may get rejected or a bad offer, or should the program exclusively accept candidates that are already guaranteed an in demand position? How will it be marketed to raise awareness of it? Should they reach out to employment agencies to have a pipeline set up? How much mental health issues should the program accept with the expectation that the program will resolve them? Should the program also handle getting people off recreational drugs? And if the program is successful enough would it kickstart a focus on better health, with cities towns and industries finding their own copycat programs?

 

[Brightstar777]

nobody cares about petty worthless military, they offer no benefit and they are just total waste of time

 

[No. 7 cat]

I am thoroughly convinced that a very sizable portion of US Military and Defense spending is just outright stolen by DoD Officials, Corrupt Generals, and Military Contractors and put into their yacht/vacation/mansion funds. It's gotta be at least a fifth of the entire budget.

There's just no fucking way the dollar amounts supposedly being spent on "le greatest military evar!!!!" consistently gets it's ass reamed and thoroughly kicked time and time again by Vietnamese rice farmers and illiterate goat herders with little more than rusty AKMs and leather sandals. The US hasn't won a single major war in over 79 years- the Italians have a better track record lol. it's laughable people keep projecting it to be a completely unstoppable force.

C'mon bait poster. Gulf War 1 & II were major enough. It might be noted the US trounced the VC in almost all instances. The political will failed. Same with Afghanistan. US bombs and cruise missiles closed off the Yugoslav War and brought the Serbs to Dayton. The US has the only first rate military nowadays. For nearly 79 years of defeat Red China might be the example. Forty years GW1 weapons fuck the Russkies hard when supplied to UA.

Making the Euros not sponge defensively on Uncle Sam will allow a moderation in spending.

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

C'mon bait poster. Gulf War 1 & II were major enough. It might be noted the US trounced the VC in almost all instances. The political will failed. Same with Afghanistan. US bombs and cruise missiles closed off the Yugoslav War and brought the Serbs to Dayton. The US has the only first rate military nowadays. For nearly 79 years of defeat Red China might be the example. Forty years GW1 weapons fuck the Russkies hard when supplied to UA.

Making the Euros not sponge defensively on Uncle Sam will allow a moderation in spending.

A military not supported by its civilian population is the same result as military losses and this problem has only been exasperated since the Gulf War. The Gulf War is an anomaly because the military leadership knew to leave afterwards. When they didn't, it was the Iraq War, which was a loss because all the effort thrown into it was lost to ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the most "Thanks Obama" moment.

Yes, but joining the military is the closest thing to an isekai that we have in this reality. I know many people who would jump at the opportunity to improve their health and mental discipline without having to worry about money the whole time, even if it means dying for their country. You'd probably get a sizeable number of applicants just by promising them abs.

To quote Otacon, "This is just like in one of my Japanese animes."

 

[MarvinTheParanoidAndroid]

No.

The damage the military has done to its reputation is irreversible. I already know what they really think.

Also, what are they gonna do about your mentals? Shovel pills in your mouth?

 

[Rei is Shit.]

Mass media has brain broken most people.

 

[SIMIΔN]

The Australian navy offer 1 year contracts and pre-Muscova, I was honestly thinking of enlisting to change the trajectory of my life. My depression is still pretty servere, so I don't think the army's easy access to firearms would be good for me.

 

[S.C.U.D.]

That's not how you convince people to die for a country they feel no patriotism for. In order for people to feel patriotic once more, the government must either spend decades building trust back among all citizens and solving the many, many problems the government itself caused, or drag us into a massive conflagration that affects everyone's daily lives so much they have no choice but to support the country. Guess which one is more likely.

 

[Judd]

Encouraging love and patriotism for one's country and culture is the best way to get people to want to sign up, and get the most worthwhile recruits that actually want to be there and serve.
As has been said a thousand times already in threads like this, it turns out that massive scale propaganda campaigns attacking the entire foundation of you country's history, culture, and demographics makes citizens not want to "serve" or risk their life for a county that blatantly hates them.
Incentives like money and college, travel, etc can fill the gap some but still don't attract the best candidates when these recruits are realistically only there to serve their own interests and not their country.

TLDR: Encouraging patriotism is the way but we all know why that's not realistic at the moment

 

[ロボ﹏§¤r﹏h¶rœ]

Honestly if millitaries are desperate for recruits they need to offer something that is wanted.

If they don't give me a chance to pilot a mecha, I'm not interested.

 

[♦️ King of Diamonds ♦️]

How about this: You're in the US Military- and the US loses a war you fought in? You're on the chopping block for Financial Decematio- basically, every 1 in 10 veterans of said lost war, completely randomly selected through lottery, will lose every one of their Veterans/Military benefits- No GI Bill, no pension, no VA healthcare, not even a 10% military discount on your weekend dinner-date to Applebee's (TM).

I guarantee you if someone like Dan Crenshaw had this applied to them it would light a fire under their ass to vocalize against any unnecessary foreign conflicts/entanglements instead of the way they act now. With enough pressure like that *any* military engagement that wasn't absolutely necessary for the survival of the country would be so unpopular you wouldn't need to recruit so many people for the military. Food for thought!