The Department of War (DOW) is receiving well-earned praise for reversing the military’s recruitment crisis. In FY2025, all the branches of the military met or exceeded their recruitment goals.
(The problem) is America’s retention crisis. Given the immensely complex tasks we demand of experienced enlisted service members and officers, the time and money it takes to replace the expertise required to perform these tasks, and how central this expertise is to modern warfighting, we cannot afford to keep hemorrhaging essential talent.
Despite spending nearly six billion dollars on recruiting and retention in recent years, including giving over 70,000 people retention bonuses, people are leaving the military at some of the highest rates of the last decade. For instance, 7% of Air Force officers and 11% of Airmen now leave the service each year, 350% and 550% above the national average, respectively.
Unsurprisingly, the more specialized and in-demand an officer’s skill-set is, the more likely the military is to lose them to the private sector. Four thousand troops left cyber jobs in 2024, despite DOW facing a 16% cyber position vacancy rate. While DOW does not publicly track how many AI experts it employs and loses each year, Georgetown University reports an intense shortage of uniformed personnel who understand both the mission and the emerging technology.
Yup. DoD pay sucks, and private sector benefits have pretty much caught up. I know people who left government positions for raises of 15%-33%. Government used to be able to pay less but still keep people due to the promise of stability, but those days are long gone.
I’m not in a tech field just a helicopter mechanic. I now work on the exact same helicopters I did in the Marines (I mean the same BUNOs), in the exact same hangar spaces, using some of the exact same tools… but now I’ve got better pay, my day ends after 8 hours (otherwise OT), I know I’m getting the weekend off (otherwise OT), all that stuff is even better since I’m union. Being the steward it’s easier to tell my boss to fuck off on some things (Though, while I was in it was more forgivable to physically fight my bosses and coworkers), and I still get socialized medicine via the VA. Plus, my socialized & guaranteed basic income via VA disability. Many of my coworkers are going to school after work thanks to socialized education benefits via the VA.
It’s much more lucrative to take military OJT into the 1st Civ Div than to stay in. Plus, I get to spend time convincing my coworkers (99% former military) they’re already socialist. It’s heartwarming how many are not happy with our government.
In the United States 4 years in the military is the cheat code to a better life. Unfortunately.