One of the reasons the U.S. has been the world’s superpower since World War II is the size, strength and advanced capabilities of our military. Since 1776, U.S. citizen soldiers have gone in harm’s way to protect America from enemies, foreign and domestic. Young men and women from all walks of life have historically joined our armed forces out of a sense of duty, honor, responsibility and love of country. That’s all changing — but not for the better.

The number of young men and women qualified for military service is rapidly declining due to factors like obesity, drug use and criminal records. Too many young people in the enlistment pool are not fit to serve. Still worse, those qualified to serve are increasingly unwilling to do so.

In our book, “Tragic Consequences: The Price America is Paying for Rejecting God and How to Reclaim Our Culture for Christ,” we warn actions have consequences. That America has come to a point in our history when we can no longer field a sufficiently sized military is the tragic consequence of poor leadership and WOKE policies of President Joe Biden, Pentagon incompetence, elitists who rule the Democrat Party, Marxist college professors and leftist ideologues who control our public schools. We are reaping what they have sown.

The Pentagon, White House and Congress concede there are now recruiting and retention shortfalls in all branches of our military. For example, the Army acknowledges an “alarming” reduction in enlistments between 21,000 and 28,000. Projections for 2023 are even worse.

Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr of the Heritage Foundation claims signing up new recruits has not been this difficult since the end of the Vietnam War. He questions whether our all-volunteer military can remain viable.

The problem of enlistment and retention shortfalls is getting worse because “leaders” in the White House, Congress and Pentagon refuse to acknowledge the cause of the problem. They claim current sharp declines in enlistments and retention in all branches of our military are because of a bustling post-COVID economy in which young people can easily find well-paying civilian jobs. This is simply not the root cause of the shortfall in reenlistments and new military accessions.

The pool of candidates for military service is not declining because of well-paying civilian jobs. Rather, it is waning because too many young Americans are fat, drugged-up criminals who were raised in a WOKE environment where helicopter parents and pandering teachers gave them everything they wanted, neglecting what they needed most: responsibility, accountability and self-discipline.

The reason so few qualified young people in the eligibility pool choose to serve has less to do with civilian job availability than with the 12 years of anti-America Marxist indoctrination they received in public schools. Why would anyone taught since kindergarten to hate America want to serve in our military? Why would anyone who idolizes professional athletes for kneeling during our national anthem want to serve in a military uniform?

Why would combat veterans reenlist when forced to accept a steady diet of politically correct tripe that runs counter to their personal values on transgenderism, critical race theory and the LGBTQ agenda?

Who wants to serve under a feckless commander in chief like Biden who abandoned American troops and allies on the battlefield in Afghanistan? Finally, who wants to serve under a president who, at a time when all branches are struggling to meet enlistment and retention goals, is dumb enough to terminate tens of thousands of military personnel for failing to take a vaccination they don’t want? Our armed forces exist to deter war and win if we have to fight. Joe Biden’s domestic and foreign policies are making both missions impossible.

COPYRIGHT 2022 OLIVER L. NORTH AND DAVID GOETSCH