As wars continue to rage abroad and Iranian proxies target American forces in the Middle East, this could spell trouble for our military forces right here in America.
Senior leaders warn that 2024 will see major structural changes for the Army. And recent reports say major cuts could even come for the branches elite special forces; which units could be headed for the chopping block?
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That's the question we asked this morning. Jim Hansen is the chief editor for the Middle East Forum and served in the US Army Special Forces. He joins us now with his analysis.
So, Jim, the Army is about to have its lowest number since 1940. Here's the graphic. It'll be a 452,000-soldier active force by the end of fiscal year 23. Is this the number the Army wanted?
Or is this because they can't recruit? How do we get to this low number? We got there because they couldn't find people who were capable of serving and wanted to serve.
You know, Pete, when you and I joined the military, we proudly raised our hands to support and defend the Constitution because we knew that America was the greatest and freest country in the history of the planet.
Children growing up in the past several generations have been taught that America is a racist, white supremacist, misogynist, and transphobic place. There is nothing to be proud of.
Why would you want to go ahead and potentially risk your life for something like that? They're used to being told the world owes them something.
Show up, get your participation trophy, and you know the world will take care of you. That's just not how it is.
And this is a result of that generation and the ones following it not being ready to become part of our military service. And you know the types of units they're cutting, Jim?
It raises eyebrows. The Army secretary, Christine Wormuth—I'm sure she's a war fighter—says the reduction will come from close combat forces and some special operations as well.
Is that where we should be cutting? Well, Pete, as I'm sure you're well aware, you know, the people in the rear with the gear are the ones killing most of the enemy.
And I don't want to dog-support troops. You know we play that game inside the military, but you have to have the people at the point end of the spear or you're not going to be something that first is a deterrent and second, if called upon, can actually take the fight to the enemy.
And they're looking at it now and saying, Well, we can't get people willing to do that or we don't want to, which is even scarier. And now they're just saying we'll just find whoever we can, and we'll put them in a room with a computer, you know, and they'll save the free world. That's just not how it works. Jim, I know you're in touch with a lot of guys still serving.
I am as well. What's your sense of the morale and ethos of today's army under the Biden administration? It's sad. I think the one thing you could say is that there are people who are still willing to serve.
who have that warrior spirit are demoralized because they spend more time practicing their pronouns and still doing pride parades than they do fighting and practicing for war.
So I think we have to change the mentality first of the country that says the military and the United States are worthy things, and then second, change the mentality inside the military that you have to focus on war fighting, not on wokeness.
And Jim, you know this: this recruitment number that we're not making comes while standards are being lowered across the board.
So we're lowering standards to get people in, and we still can't recruit enough to fill the ranks.
It does not bode well. Go ahead. Last word. No, you have to be able to uphold the standards.
You can't lower them and say, Well, maybe this will still be OK. That, again, is not conducive to having the fighting force we need in a world that's on fire.
Had a senior leader recently say we're not changing the standards; we're just adapting them, OK? Right down. Yeah, exactly, Jim. Thank you very much. Happy New Year! It's good to be with you.
