Decline in White Recruits Fueling the Military’s Worst-Ever Recruiting Crisis, Data Shows

Military Recruits

Each U.S. military service saw a notable decline in white recruits over the past five years, according to data obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, likely factoring into the military’s crippling recruiting crisis.

The Army, Navy and Air Force missed their recruiting objectives by historically large margins in fiscal year 2023, which ended on Sept. 30, as the broader American public has grown wary of military service, according to Department of Defense (DOD) statistics, officials and experts who spoke to the DCNF. Since 2018, however, the number of recruits from minority groups has remained steady — or, in some cases, increased — while the number of white recruits has declined, according to data on the demographics of new recruits obtained by the DCNF.

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Commentary: When the Invaders Outnumber the Army

According to the website Statista, the United States has the third largest standing “Army” in the world. The website says that we have 1.3 million soldiers under arms. By “soldiers,” they’re referring to all of our armed forces—Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. Third largest in the world. Not bad, if you’re into measuring things. China and India are the only countries with larger militaries. Russia has one about the same size as us, as does North Korea.

In addition to our active force, Statista says we have over 760,000 reservists attached to our armed forces. For those unfamiliar, a reservist is also a soldier (generic term) who can theoretically be called into duty to do things the active forces do. They’re called reservists because they are the first line of replenishment for the active force. Reservists serve in various capacities in all of the branches of the US military. They train once a month with their unit and have a two-week annual training event where they go to an installation and ensure their skills are ready for wartime. Some call them weekend warriors. I call them heroes—many or most have other jobs and serve our great country because they want to serve. Of key importance is that all of these service members are federally authorized and work at the direction of the president.

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Federal Diversity Trainings Cost Taxpayers in 2023 Millions of Dollars

The Biden administration spent millions on diversity trainings for federal agencies, including some for the armed forces, in 2023.

Taxpayers were on the hook for the more than $16.3 million the federal government spent on diversity trainings taking place in 2023, according to a government spending database. Past government diversity trainings have instructed federal workers that asking an Asian colleague for help with a math problem could be racist, that men can become pregnant and that “social pain” can be the same as physical pain.

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Lawmaker Demands Air Force Justify Threatening Troops’ Careers for Attending Conservative ‘Turning Point’ Rally

Republican Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana is pressuring the Air Force to conduct an investigation of text messages warning against attending a conservative rally, according to a letter obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

A master sergeant at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota urged leaders to caution their troops about the potential for violence aimed at military members at a conservative rally or participating in the featured political advocacy group in leaked text messages on November 17, Fox News first reported. Banks, who chairs the House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee and heads the chamber’s Anti-Woke Caucus, said the texts from an unidentified leader defamed a conservative organization and interfered in an Airman’s right to free assembly and the political process, the letter stated.

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Air Force Begs Troops Booted over COVID-19 Vax to Come Back

The U.S. Air Force sent out a letter telling an airman booted from the service over the now-rescinded COVID-19 vaccine mandate of an opportunity to rejoin the service, mirroring similar letters sent to former Army service members, according to a copy of one Air Force letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

A former Air Force service member who was separated for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine received the letter Sunday addressed with the recipient’s name, according to a source familiar with the matter. The letter tells former airmen they can request to have their service records amended to show that they received honorable discharges and seek reentry into the service amidst the service’s failure to meet recruiting goals.

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‘He Sees All White People as Racist’: Military Assessment Criticizes Air Force Colonel’s Leadership

Col. Ben Jonsson, an Air Force officer who accused his fellow “white colonels” of being “blind to institutional racism,” is the subject of blistering criticism from subordinates at MacDill Air Force Base, where he served as commander from 2020 to 2022. 

Jonsson is among the more than 300 military officers awaiting Senate approval for a promotion. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has blocked Democrats—and now some Republicans—from rubber-stamping these promotions in a dispute over the Pentagon’s taxpayer-funded abortion policy. 

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Air Force Sued over Free Speech Rights of Airman Who Called Out Cancel Culture While in Uniform

A Space Force reservist filed a lawsuit against the Air Force, Space Force and the Department of Defense on Tuesday alleging he faced unlawful punishment for speaking out against cancel culture and progressive policies during a private event.

First Liberty Institute, law firm Winston & Strawn and the Ave Maria School of Law Veterans and Servicemembers Law Clinic filed the lawsuit on behalf of Jace Yarbrough, who in 2021 was invited to speak at a retirement ceremony for SMSgt Duane Fish allegedly in a personal capacity, according to a press release. After an unnamed Navy member present at the ceremony complained about the contents of the speech, the Air Force censured Yarbrough, now a Major in the Air Force Reserve and attorney.

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Top Air Force Leader Warns China Is Prepping for War ‘Specifically’ with U.S.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall gave a stark warning that China is preparing for a war that the United States has “no modern experience with” during a speech at Air and Space Forces Association’s 2023 Air, Space and Cyber Conference on Monday, according to an Air Force press release.

Kendall said that the catalyst for a war with China would likely be Taiwan and evoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an example of an international war with no easy solution, according to the press release. Kendall warned in a memo penned last week that, as quickly as China’s military has advanced, the United States is “not optimized for great power competition.”

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New Mexico-Based Special Operations Squadron to Move to Arizona’s Davis-Monthan

U.S. Senators Marin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández, D-New Mexico, and Clovis Mayor Mike Morris are not happy that the Air Force decided to relocate seven MC-130J aircraft and around 300 to 350 service members, known as the 6th Special Operations Squadron. The Air Force will relocate Squadron from Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, New Mexico, to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, in the upcoming fiscal year despite millions the lawmakers have secured for the base to support its operations.

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Biden Taps Next General to Lead the Air Force

President Joe Biden has chosen the Air Force’s possible next top officer after tapping the current Air Force Chief of Staff to serve in the Joint Chiefs chairman’s role, the Congressional record shows.

The White House notified Congress of its intent to nominate Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin on Tuesday, the record shows, although Biden has yet to formally announce the nomination. If confirmed, Allvin would replace Gen. Charles Brown as the service’s highest-ranking military officer, but he faces hurdles amid the backlog of senior officers awaiting Senate confirmation due to a hold over a Department of Defense (DOD) abortion policy.

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Air Force Embraces DEI as Recruitment Falters

The U.S. Air Force has become increasingly focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts, and critics say it is hurting recruitment.

Chief of Staff of the Air Force Charles Q. Brown has been a major backer of the DEI efforts. Brown said in the fall of 2020 that DEI was a key focal point of recruiting and a factor in promotions. The Air Force launched a Diversity and Inclusion Task Force in September 2020.

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Air Force Selects 179th Airlift Wing in Mansfield, Ohio for Air National Guard’s First Cybersecurity Wing

Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH) this weekend welcomed an announcement by Air Force Maj. Gen. John C. Harris Jr. that the Air Force is formally designating the 179th Airlift Wing in Mansfield as the first wing of its cybersecurity mission.

The Air Force and the National Guard Bureau made the designation after analyzing the possibility for the past year. In August 2021, the Air Force publicized its assessment that the north-central Ohio wing was the frontrunner to become the initial cyberspace-mission site. The new mission will be oriented toward protecting aircraft and weaponry software systems from attacks and other risks. It will bring in 175 new high-technology staff positions which DeWine touted as an important step in making the Buckeye State a more high-profile venue for the science, mathematical, engineering and cybertechnology fields. 

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Tennessee Senator Hagerty and Florida Senator Rubio Raise Alarm over Jet Fleet’s Removal from Japan

Tennessee Republican Senator Bill Hagerty announced on Thursday that he and his Florida Republican colleague Marco Rubio wrote to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin this week expressing alarm at the removal of America’s F-15-jet fleet from Okinawa, Japan. 

The United States Air Force last week publicized its intention to phase out the fleet’s presence at Kadena Air Base on the southeastern Japanese island starting on November 1. The two squadrons now being withdrawn comprise half of the roughly 100 fighter aircraft the United States currently maintains in Japan. Instead of replacing the jets, the Biden administration anticipates periodically sending F-22 planes from Alaska to the base. 

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Ohio Congressional Candidate Majewski Backs Up Military Record in Conversations with Bannon and Frantz

Ohio congressional candidate J.R. Majewski appeared on the War Room with Stephen K. Bannon and Always Right Radio with Bob Frantz this week to corroborate Majewski’s record of military service, something political opponents and media figures have recently assailed.

Majewski is a Republican Air Force veteran running to unseat 40-year U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9) in a district that encompasses many of the state’s northwestern and north-central communities including Toledo. The newly redrawn House district is one of five that former President Donald Trump won in 2020 but to which a Democratic incumbent seeks reelection. 

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Appeals Court Hands Air Force Class Action Plaintiffs a Win in Vaccine Mandate Lawsuit

A panel of three Sixth Circuit judges have denied the Air Force’s attempt to overturn class certification granted to all members of the Air Force by a federal district court judge in July. In doing so, they handed another win to roughly 10,000 airmen and women fighting against the Department of Defense’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The appeals court judges denied an emergency motion made by the Air Force requesting it stay the class certification and injunction granted in Hunter Doster, et al. v. Hon Frank Kendall, et al., by U.S. District Judge Matthew W. McFarland of the Southern District of Ohio. In July, McFarland granted class status and issued a preliminary injunction preventing retaliation against those in the Air Force who don’t comply with the mandate as the lawsuit continues. His order remains in effect.

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Air Force Diversity Festival to Include Drag Show

Joint Base Langley-Eustis will host a “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Summer Festival” on Saturday, which will reportedly include a drag show.

Joshua Kelley, whose stage name is Harpy Daniels, will headline the drag show, according to the Daily Wire. The event’s planners have advertised it as being family friendly, listing bouncy houses and face painting among the activities for children.

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Federal Court Orders Air Force to Not Impose Vaccine Mandate on Coast Guard Members Who’ve Filed Religious Exemptions

A federal court in Ohio entered a nationwide preliminary injunction Thursday prohibiting the U.S. Air Force from enforcing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate against religious objectors.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio’s order in Doster v. Kendall remains effective until a full trial is held. It follows the temporary restraining order the court issued July 14 when it granted class action status for all Air Force plaintiffs nationwide. Class status protects all active-duty Airmen, active reserve, National Guard, Air Force Academy cadets, the Air Force Reserve Command, and Space Force members.

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Judge Grants Temporary Injunction Against COVID Vax Mandate for Airmen Seeking Religious Exemption

A district court judge in Ohio granted a temporary injunction Thursday against the Air Force’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all of the branch’s members requesting a religious exemption.

U.S. District Court Judge Matthew McFarland, of the Southern District of Ohio, granted the 14-day injunction in the case of Doster v. Kendall, giving the government seven days to respond and explain “why this Court should not grant a class-wide preliminary injunction,” according to the court order.

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Biden’s Air Force Opens Strategic Tanker Contract to Airbus Less Than a Year After $4B DOJ Sanction for Hiding China Ties

President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s administration opened up a significant chunk of a new Air Force tanker contract to the Leiden, Netherlands, based Airbus less than a year after the company paid a nearly $4 billion fine for corruption and despite its history of technology transfers to China.

“Airbus engaged in a multi-year and massive scheme to corruptly enhance its business interests by paying bribes in China and other countries and concealing those bribes,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division in a statement released at the end of January.

“This coordinated resolution was possible thanks to the dedicated efforts of our foreign partners at the Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom and the PNF in France,” Benczkowski said.

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California Sheriff Deputy Damon Gutzwiller Killed, Two Others Injured in Ambush-Style Attack by Air Force Sgt. Steven Carrillo

A Northern California sheriff’s deputy was killed and two law enforcement officers wounded Saturday when they were ambushed with gunfire and explosives while pursuing a suspect, authorities said.

The U.S. Air Force confirmed Sunday that the suspect was an active duty sergeant stationed at Travis Air Force Base.

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Coders Building Database Need Health Care Workers to Report Coronavirus Testing Sites So They Can Provide Data to Officials Battling Disease

A coalition of computer coders and medical experts is looking for volunteers — including from the Volunteer State — to help provide better information on COVID-19 coronavirus testing sites.

TechCrunch reported on the one-week-old Coders Against Covid project, which is building a database of testing sites. The team of about 15 developers includes Andrew Kemendo of KesselRun, an Air Force software developer, and Dr. Jorge A. Caballero, a clinical instructor of Anesthesia at Stanford University. The goal is to inform officials tracking the disease and to better distribute the tests where they are needed.

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Governor DeWine Announces Ohio Air Force Lab Will Be Site of Groundbreaking New Tech

Gov. Mike DeWine, along with several other senior Ohio and military officials, announced Friday that Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport would be the test site for a new and revolutionary aviation system. DeWine was joined in his announcement by Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, and Major General William Cooley, Commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. The new system will be run and overseen by the Ohio Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Center and AFRL. A press release from DeWine’s office described the new technology as follows: This month, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that new technology developed in collaboration between AFRL and the State of Ohio – called SkyVision – safely, accurately, and effectively allows unmanned aircraft systems (UAS or “drones”) to detect and avoid other aircraft while in flight. Simply put, SkyVision can be described as an air traffic control system for drones. The main point of concern is that, per FAA rules, no individual or organization can operate a drone in the U.S. outside of the line of sight of the user. This study will test drones well outside of the line of sight of the user, but still within a 200-mile radius. “As…

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Air Force Error Allowed Texas Shooter to Pass Firearm Background Check

The U.S. Air Force failed to report Texas church shooter Devin Kelley’s misdemeanor domestic violence charge to the FBI, allowing him to legally purchase firearms. The U.S. armed forces are required to report dishonorable discharges and misdemeanor assault charges to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, that in turn would alert a firearms seller…

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