Naval aviation faces a similar situation. The Army has failed to meet its recruiting goals for many occupational specialties, including some in the combat arms, even with offers of extremely generous incentives. More graduates of our service academies and military colleges are choosing not to pursue a military career. The mainstream media and professional military journals are filled with stories about pervasive low morale affecting the readiness and capabilities of our forces. The issue is not money, plenty of which has been thrown at the problem.
Soldiers like to go and do what soldiers are trained to do.
Nor is it the lure of the economy and all the good jobs out there. The willingness to sacrifice is still an attribute of the soldier's life. Part of the problem, in fact, is that many of the current military leaders do not see the real problem. The American military culture, established through two centuries of tradition, is under attack like it has never been before. The warrior is being overtaken by the technologist, and in the pursuit of opportunity for all, the fighting elites are now being targeted as no longer relevant to accomplishing the objectives of war.