We will know things are bad only when... they have a firm requirement for white males.
Currently, they will fill the gaps with anyone willing to enlist. Fat, check. Mentally Ill, check. Racists, check and move to the head of the class. Female in Special Operations, check. Female in Infantry, not a priority because only great Infantry soldiers become qualified Special Operators.
I joined foregoing my Junior year in 1974 and came out with a Masters Degree and two BAs, as a First Sergeant waiting on Sergant Major but with what I had going on, why would risk everything I worked 20 years to achieve to be destroyed with one AH SH*T - a thousand attaboys would not save anyone; the Army by 1994 under Clinton was involved in Bosnia illegally at the time and many of US ARMY - Uncle Sam Ain’t Relesed Me Yet, saw the politicalization in the upper ranks.
That was when Hillary lied about almost being killed in Yugosalvia by a sniper (a good fried of mine was the CSM in the air and on the ground with her entrouge and he said it was a lie - what she really said was, “I am gonna fuck all these people personally when we are President, nobody tells me to wear a helmet.”
The entire US Army is currently built upon competence, starting at the lowest pay grades and ranks. By the time you an E3 you are considered competent. Show some leadership (or have a family to feed) you make E4. Did you notice people get promoted to a position to feed their family while others for competence? That is the crux of brining in families at the lowest pay grades. Of course it is the Hook to keep then 20 years too because they can not afford to get out and maintain their standard of living after 3 years.
The officer ranks suffer from being filled with college grad’s. The Military needs to start training it’s own officer corps and it needs to take kids out of High School into 5-6 new service academies that are not West Point, Annapolis or a mile high. These schools need to focus on God and Country allowing everyone to know a morale and just group of people protect the nation from itself.
Thanks for your service, Top. I’ll take a bit of issue with your comments regarding officers, but I understand where you’re coming from. My problem was with staff officers that were sent to command batteries. For me, it was like having CPT Sobel as a CO. I was No Dick Winters or Sam Damon, but I was competent enough after I flunked my first ARTEP, and that’s when the light came on.