Long, slow decline of the US military's all-volunteer force puts America in danger

U.S. military’s all-volunteer force is in a long, slow decline because of a host of issues. We need to inspire more young people to serve their country.

Dr. Mark T. Esper was the 27th Secretary of Defense, and author of the New York Times best-selling memoir, "A Sacred Oath."

The fact is the pool of Americans aged 17-24 who are qualified and interested in serving continues to shrink. When I was secretary of the Army in 2018, 71% of these 34 million young people could not meet the military’s entry requirements due mostly to obesity, drug use, physical and mental health problems, and criminal misconduct. Four years later, that number is even higher. Further, of the 23% eligible to serve today, another 10% don’t meet the military’s academic standards. Worse, of the 3.5 million young Americans remaining, only 9% (~320,000) have a proclivity to serve. A nation of 332 million people should do better than that.