17 year olds at Lolly Vasquez Can't wait to be a pilot. You just feel this warm rush of heat just running through your body. It's really this excitement that you just feel, you feel a sense of freedom. The Arizona high schooler is one of 20 students in the country to attend the elite US Navy Summer Flight Academy. When I first expressed interest in the military to my family. They were, they were surprised. They're like, okay, you're the first one to join the military or have a show any interest in joining the military and you want to be a pilot. But not everyone is as excited as Vasquez to join the military. The Armed services are struggling to recruit in a tight civilian job market and haven't had this much trouble since 1973. The year the draft ended. The other important reason is that we've had a COVID pandemic. It's been difficult to get out. The places that recruiters normally get to go into schools, meeting people face to face, shaking hands, telling them about the military would record low unemployment numbers. The majority of Military branches are feeling the pinch. The civilian labor market is always an important competitor for the military services to recruit from. So people who are graduating from high school, am I going to college, am I going to get a job Would you like to join the military The Navy barely made its recruiting goal this year, bringing in 33,442 sailors, 42 more than the target to expand their candidate pool. They've bumped the maximum enlistment age from 39 to 41. The Air Force met its numbers but had fewer additional recruits than previous years and the largest branch, the army fell short. It missed its goal by 25% or 15,000 soldiers. One of the things tha army needs to do is figure out how to get more and better information into decision makers. Young Young Adults Hands. Congress has put pressure on the pentagon to increase recruiting efforts and some branches are offering bonuses of $10,000 and more. But with the having younger population a lackluster interest in serving and by some accounts lacking the physical s to qualify. Should we be worried if we fail to meet our congressional mandated military It will if they if not tomorrow eventually lead to difficulty in achieving our military mission. The mission of defending our country, volunteers like the female pilots of Navy strike fighter squadron to 13 C their jobs as a way to serve the nation and a career opportunity. I would like to think that when young girls see us, they know that this is something that you can do kat, sandoval, Newsy Chicago