We have reported on the recruitment problems that plague the United States Armed Forces. It’s not been a good year.

What should you do as a member of the U.S. Army if this is your situation? Why not stop focusing on issues that are “woke”, such as DEI or transgender? Respect the military?

Nah. You can reduce your numbers if you are operating under the Biden Administration. It’s much easier to cut your numbers than solve the problem.

The Army released an “Army Force Structure Transformation”, a paper on Tuesday, which announced a reduction in force of approximately 24,000 positions.

Problem solved.

24,000 US Army positions cut amid recruitment woes https://t.co/GZBaNrKY21 pic.twitter.com/galB2PTBDo

— American Military News (@AmerMilNews) February 27, 2024

The Army attempted to portray the move as an exercise to reduce fat. However, in reality, the lack of interest from people to join played a major role.

However, active-duty soldiers will not be asked to leave.

The Army does not ask current soldiers to leave. The Army stated that as the Army builds up its back-end strength in the next few years, the number of soldiers stationed at most installations is likely to increase.

The majority of jobs that are being cut are counterinsurgency posts, which grew during wars in Iraq or Afghanistan but are no longer in demand.

The reality is that they can justify their actions in any way, but the truth will still hit them:

According to a report by the Department of Defense, the Army, Navy, and Air Force failed to meet their recruitment targets for Fiscal Year 2023 which ended in September. The Army did recruit more than 50,000 recruits but fell short of the 65,000 goal. According to The Associated Press, the Army missed its Fiscal Year 2020 recruitment goal by approximately 15,000 troops.

The Army has been struggling to recruit new soldiers for the past two decades.

Twitchy, our sister site, has some funny (but pointed!) social media reactions to the news. Most of them are along these lines:

Not surprised.
Constantly being Woke Aware would be exhausting. Can you even say “Sir , YES Sir !” anymore ?
“Person who holds the position of authority above me , YES , Person who holds the position of authority above me ! “ that is a mouthful. https://t.co/J5qNBpjUEO

— The Viking Santa🇺🇸🟦🇮🇱 (@BumpstockKen) February 27, 2024

According to the Army, here’s what cuts are coming:

According to the Army plan, approximately 10,000 positions related to counter-insurgency will be cut, as well as 2,700 positions in units that do not deploy regularly, and 6,500 posts and positions for training. Also, approximately 10,000 positions will be eliminated from cavalry squadrons and security force assistance brigades.

The Army has insisted on restructuring to “position the Army better to fight future conflicts,” but in reality, they are cutting back due to a shortage of people wanting to join. According to their numbers, they are almost 50,000 people short of what they intended.

While the Army has announced that the number of active duty soldiers is now 445,000, the service structure was designed for 494,000 soldiers. According to the Army’s restructuring plan, it aims to reach a total of 470,000 active-duty troops by fiscal year 2029.

Pentagon officials can try to explain this however they like, but the fact remains that it is a response to the conditions on the ground. It is not the outcome desired.

Add this to the list of failures under the Biden administration.