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12 | MHCE - News www.mhce.us MARCH 2023 EDITION offering students the military as a career option. In some cases, school officials view the military through a post-Vietnam era lens. Martinez and other school officials acknowledged there is a knowledge gap, but added that for security reasons, principals and counselors are cautious about who gets access to their schools and students. They also warned that a recruiter who is good at speaking to students may not be as prepared to deal with school leaders. Recruiters, they said, must be able to explain the benefits of military service to those who are gatekeepers to the students. High school access isn't the only hurdle. Speaking with college leaders, Wormuth stressed that the Army should not be viewed as their competitor for young people. "The Army is facing a recruiting challenge. That's what brought me here," Wormuth told a large group of college presidents and leaders at the University of Illinois Chicago. But, she added, "it doesn't have to be a choice for kids between the Army and college. Some kids benefit from a little time doing something else." In some cases, she said, soldiers return to college after serving, or while continuing to serve, and are better prepared to be good students. Students offered their own views. In small sessions with members of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and the junior ROTC, students laid bare the gaps the Army must bridge to attract others in their generation. They said young people don't know the benefits offered by Army service, which include a wide array of career choices or free college tuition. They said students have little exposure to service members and that for every positive mention of the military or the
WWW.MHCE.US Monthly Newsletter | 13 Army online, there are five negative ones. Gathered around tables and in their uniforms, they spoke glowingly about their ROTC experiences: the camaraderie, the support, the leadership skills they get and the confidence they build. But all too often, they said, their friends question their choices, and, as one said, "assume I'm going to war." Some noted that at times their parents are reluctant and had concerns about their safety. In a crowded auditorium at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Wormuth came face to face with those perceptions. Young students peppered her with questions about sexual assaults in the Army, homeless veterans, and the use of the military during racial unrest after the police killing of George Floyd. Flying home after three days jammed with such sessions, Wormuth said the questions from the Whitney Young students, along with similar issues raised in other meetings, reinforce the need for the military to solve some it its more difficult problems. "They asked about sexual harassment. They asked about, are they going to be safe? They asked about barracks, in addition to wanting to know what the benefits are," Wormuth said. "That, to me, underscores the importance of us finding ways to solve those problems. Those are real issues and the market research we've done speaks to that." She said that she and Gen. James McConville, the Army chief of staff, realize it will take time to fix the recruiting shortfall. "I don't think we're going to build back our recruiting numbers to the level that Gen. McConville and I would feel comfortable with in one year," she said. Maj. Gen. Johnny Davis, head of Army Recruiting Command, said some new incentive programs are already working and enlistment numbers for recent months are higher than last year. Army leaders are pinning their hopes on a new advertising campaign that will launch this week and bring back a tried and true Army slogan from the 1980s: "Be all you that can be." In the Whitney Young auditorium, Wormuth said the slogan speaks to the variety of careers the Army offers. "If coding is your thing, we have a place for you in the Army," she told the students. "If jumping out of planes or helicopters is your thing, or if you'd rather fly them, you can become an aviator or go airborne in the United States Army. If you want to speak different languages and travel the world, you could become a linguist or a foreign country expert in the army. " And, she added, if hip hop is their passion, they can become an Army rapper, since two vocalists just joined the Army band of rappers. "People remember people who take risks and try to do something in service of something bigger than themselves," she told the classes. "People remember those who choose to be all that they could be."
