It lies in me. I am an army of one. It appeared to be telling young adults what to do, she said, and they want to make the decisions themselves. In civilian life, individuality and independence are desirable. But individual soldiers don't go to war.
Armies go to war.
To win, and keep casualties to a minimum, soldiers need to follow orders without hesitation. It seems odd to stress individual decision-making to recruit people for a job that does not rely on it except in emergencies. The Army has missed its recruitment goals three times since 1995. But there are several possible explanations. Some potential recruits may be turned off by the frequent peacekeeping missions that have stretched U.S. troop strength thin during the past eight years and by the budget cuts that have seriously weakened weapons procurement, jeopardizing the lives of recruits in war zones.