In 1775, a group of plucky English colonists formed an army and a navy to uphold the rights they believed were due to them as Englishmen — and in the 250 years since, these institutions have formed the sturdiest pillars of the world’s greatest nation.
From the Yankees at Gettysburg to the leathernecks at Iwo Jima, American servicemembers have spilled their blood around the globe for security, freedom and decency.
The US military has held together a world at relative peace and unprecedented prosperity for eight decades. The Pax Americana represents a civilizational triumph.
We owe our armed forces, living and deceased, an enormous debt of gratitude. Yet America’s military faces immense challenges.
In 1985, President Ronald Reagan spent 5.7% of GDP on defense, contributing to the Soviet Union’s demise. If the Republicans’ current budget plan becomes law, defense spending will equal about 3.2% of GDP.
Mounting tensions with an ascendant China may require more, but a large and persistent budget deficit will constrain further spending. The United States now spends more to cover interest payments on the national debt than on defense.
Meanwhile, recruiters have struggled to find qualified candidates — in 2022 and 2023, most branches missed their quotas.
They’ve responded by lowering their entry standards. The Navy began accepting candidates who scored very low on the Armed Services Qualification Test in 2022, then last year stopped requiring recruits to have a high school diploma or GED.
The Army in 2022 relaxed its physical requirements to allow for more female and older soldiers — a policy Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently reversed in favor of uniform, sex-neutral standards for combat-arm roles.
Enlistment rebounded in 2024 and has continued to improve this year, with some of the highest figures in decades coming in recent months. But it’s way too early to declare victory.
The hard truth is that, as a nation, our standards have slipped. We’re just not as healthy, sharp or patriotic as we used to be.
Only 23% of American youths today can meet enlistment requirements without a waiver. High obesity rates and worse mental health have made more young people unfit to serve.
In 2024, American students scored at their lowest math and reading achievement levels since the late 1990s or early 2000s.
Smartphone use — particularly on social media — has contributed to distracted learning environments and poorer mental health and social development.
And just 18% of those aged 18 to 34 report that they are extremely proud to be an American.
Small wonder, then, that few are willing to serve — and that many of those with the desire lack the fitness and mental acuity necessary to succeed.
Many of the Pentagon’s problems start at the local level. Just as our daily decisions shape the people we become, decades of local policy choices have transformed the nation, not always for the better.
Big cities like New York are hostile to families. Young couples can’t easily find larger housing suitable for children — especially within financial reach — because housing supply persistently lags demand.
The city spends about $40 billion a year on public education, but its students score below national averages. Basic services like 3-K are poorly executed, with waitlists in some neighborhoods and thousands of open seats elsewhere.
Is it any wonder the Empire State has seen the number of births shrink by 13% between 2011 and 2021? Falling birthrates restrict the military recruitment pool even further.
When young Americans are priced out of homeownership and denied paths to upward mobility, their faith in a brighter future fades.
It’s hard to build a culture of pride in a country where young people can’t have a stake in their local community.
Curing this civic malaise requires getting the basics right: building much more family-friendly housing, restoring excellence and merit in public education, and ensuring safety in schools and on streets.
To improve students’ mental health, the city should take seriously a new statewide ban on smartphone use in public schools.
City services should aim to ensure that New York’s youth are healthy, educated and resilient enough to qualify for military service.
Many would step up, if encouraged to do so. Just look at Bayside’s Cardozo High School, where about 23% of students take part in the Navy Junior ROTC.
On Friday, the Navy landed a Knighthawk chopper on the school’s baseball field, thrilling students and creating a memorable experience. This kind of military outreach in high schools promises to restore teenagers’ sense of purpose and patriotism.
“I do want to have that moment in my career where I serve my country and give back,” one senior told The Post.
Let’s honor the legacy of our fallen heroes and commit to building a city and a nation worthy of their sacrifice, one that would make them — and all of us — proud.
John Ketcham is director of cities and a legal policy fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
