Manpower is sea power—and right now, the difficulty generating manpower severely limits the capacity to create sea power. Weak recruiting coupled with troubling long-run labor force trends make correcting this problem both challenging and necessary. Solutions and options exist, but enacting them starts with correctly assessing the present state of recruiting and the roots of the problems in the all-volunteer force (AVF).    The recruiting challenges confronting the Sea Services are not unique. The Army flat out missed its fiscal year (FY) 2022 targets, and the Air Force and Navy achieved their FY22 objectives largely by accelerating FY23 accessions.

https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2023/august/avf-crossroad

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