Opinion

Reversing the Worst Military Recruiting Challenge in History

To address the military recruiting crisis, appeal to Gen Z’s quest for a calling, says this Marine author.

Matthew Weiss

Battlefields Staff

9/16/2023|Updated: 9/20/2023

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Commentary

I was born in 1998. As the very first members of our new generation took their initial breaths of life, the world was about to undergo a seismic economic shift. The babies born with me became Generation Z, and together we are answering the question of “What do you do for a living?” very differently than in the past.

This statement is borne out by Z’s reaction to the time period we have developed in. We are too young to remember 9/11, and instead, Z had our childhoods bookended with the Great Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. These large-scale, global events impacted nearly everyone in the world and have shaped our fear today. McKinsey’s American Opportunity Survey shows Z’s financial trepidation, with nearly 23 percent of the approximately 25,000 respondents queried saying they don’t expect ever to retire and only 41 percent ever hoping to own a home.

Second Lieutenant Matthew Weiss is an 0202/0206 Signals Intelligence/Electronic Warfare Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. He is currently deployed as the S-2 of the coordination element of Marine Rotational Force-Darwin in Australia. Previously, he worked in mergers and acquisitions at a cutting-edge defense technology company. He holds a B.A. and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Most importantly, he is a member of Generation Z. He cares deeply about solving this issue of service and decided to write his book, "We Don't Want You, Uncle Sam," to spread a crucial message. No profits will be made from this work, but hopefully, you can assist him in reversing the worst recruiting challenge in American military history.