The problem is that using that fuck you hammer inappropriately will break the hammer, even a hammer as insanely well-funded as the DoD 18yos sign up to jump out of planes and kill terrorists, not detain migrants by the un-air conditioned tractor trailer load. Recruiting and retention will plummet.
I wish I shared your optimism. I think if they command climate, shiny metal on ribbon, and CoD post hard enough they’ll get buy in from the Joes, and eventually junior leaders and as they age they’ll be come senior leaders…
LTs who commission this year will be COs well on their way to Major by Jan 2029. PV2s who are good and motivated will be SSGs. SSGs who buy in will be 1SGs etc
It’s both the blessing and the curse of the great indoctrination machine.
those border missions sound like they suck absolute shit. add a few months of eating dust in Brownsville to a ReARMM cycle that includes a months-long "deployment" to a multilateral exercise in Europe (for which you get no significant additional pay and allowances) and the burn out will be real, imo
Not sure we have the data publicly but weren’t there a ton of suicides out of those border missions?
Quantity and quality of 18yos will decline, and you’ll have a self compounding problem of “we put the worst guys in charge of the worst guys and now they’re publicly embarrassing the flag regularly”