Vienna, Austria—The below opinion piece is authored by George Bottorff, Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, retired. Having spent decades in uniform and having been involved in the military recruiting process, the author touches on how the Trump Administration has actually discouraged Americans from wanting to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. George is a California UOCAVA voter, resident of Austria, and Member of the Democrats Abroad Global Veterans and Military Families Caucus.
___________
The success of America’s national security rests on the men and women who patriotically volunteer to serve our homeland and defend our fellow citizens’ rights and liberties. Back when I served as an enlisted Marine, I had countless talks with young recruits and learned firsthand their reasons for wanting to join the Armed Forces, many of which are the same reasons for joining today. Some kids want the GI Bill to pay for a college degree, some want a path to stay off the streets, and some want a meaningful adventure that they simply couldn’t get in their home town. And some – like the young men during the Vietnam War years, including myself, I had received what I thought to be at the time from the Arizona Lottery a low number, but would rather choose my own branch of service instead of having it chosen for me.
From 1983-86, I was assigned to Marine recruiting duty - first in Lynn, Massachusetts, and then a transfer to the recruiting office in Frankfurt, Germany, nine months later. As a military recruiter, it was my mission to get three to four qualified persons to enlist into the Marine Corps each month. Even during the Cold War years, this was not an easy task. It was a full-time job which required unrelenting encouragement, an explanation of military and VA benefits, answering parents’ questions and concerns, and spending hours on the phone and driving to various locations. Those days were long indeed, and most Americans aren’t even aware that military recruiters are also required to perform nonpartisan voter registrations for both potential recruits and any non-recruits needing to register. I also constantly reminded young men of their legal requirement to register with the Selective Service System, per U.S. law. And yes, this includes – and still does to this day – men aged 18 to 25, stateside or overseas, who are U.S. citizens.
Some months I would make mission and celebrate by spending some time fishing. But in this job, you could not sit and wait for someone to walk into your office; you had to go where the “market” demanded you. In Massachusetts, I had a small community to work from. But in Frankfurt, Germany, it was only myself and one other person performing this critical military service, and my area of operation was all of Europe. As a recruiter, I might talk to a 100 people a month, narrow that pool down to 20 good prospects, and break that down even further to 3 or 4 who were physically and mentally fit to enlist and finally understand what it means to serve something larger than oneself and to step into the uniform of a United States Marine. My marketplace was not in turmoil.
In those days, a simple Marine recruiting TV commercial was often enough to inspire a high school student to drop by the recruiting office to learn more about joining the world’s elite military branches. And when potential recruits asked me questions about why they should join, my responses were filled with absolute truths: the pride of being a Marine – the health care coverage unmatched by the private sector – the opportunity to see the world and why we make a difference – the reasons were endless. And although those reasons are still relevant, the current Commander-in-Chief has not demonstrated much to inspire America’s next generation of Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen, Guardians, Coast Guardsman, and Reservists. In fact, he and his whole national security team are outright discouraging new recruits from enlisting and new pools of Americans seeking an officer’s commission. Furthermore, the Administration is also discouraging current service members from re-enlisting.
Environmentalist and science communicator David Attenborough once said, “You can work with nature or work against nature. You cannot do both.” Right now, this Administration is working against nature. In recent days, Republican officials and conservative media often tout increased numbers of military recruits and service members’ retentions as a result of last November’s election, but these same sources totally ignore the fact that the Biden Administration made significant federal investments in Defense Department recruitment and retention efforts to help get the numbers back up after the COVID era.
As we all know, the colors of the U.S. flag are red, white, and blue. But what this Administration apparently doesn’t understand is that the service members, military family members, and veterans who keep our beautiful flag upright and visible to the world consists of people of all walks of life – Haitian-American, Vietnamese-American, Native American, transgender Americans – and everyone else who’s sacrificed blood, sweat and tears to defend our nation. We owe these diverse service members and veterans our gratitude for standing and delivering, and I’m proud to have served in a professional organization which welcomed these individuals to our ranks which has time and again put country over party.
In my old Marine Recruiting Manual, the last chapter touches on what to do in the event of a future draft. In the 1960 – 1970s, some recruiting offices were actually located inside county courthouses, so I was told at recruiting school. In many of those places, some defendants were given a choice by the judge: a six-month stint in jail, or joining the Marines. If this Administration continues on the path they’ve set, it’s quite possible the U.S. returns to the days of conscription via the draft.
The evidence to support this is clear. Just within the first six months of 2025, the Trump Administration:
- has ordered the military to perform false “emergency” policing duties in our communities, something expressly forbidden under the Posse Comitatus Act;
- continues to rip apart military-connected families through its chaotic and racist deportation “program”;
- ordered the re-naming of military installations and Navy ships who are currently named after a diverse mix of American heroes;
- booted out transgender service members with the false argument that such a move is making the military “more lethal”;
- required military academies to disband student organizations based on diversity, equity, and inclusion;
- removed historical, educational, and commemorative information about Americans who have made outstanding contributions to our country – women, Black, LGBT, and more.
- mandated the purge of books by diverse authors in Department of Defense Educational Activity (DoDEA) schools;
- issued an executive order and attempted to pass legislation which takes away the hard-fought voting rights for millions of overseas and military-connected Americans via the Safeguard Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act;
- spent tens of millions of dollars on a military parade in the District of Columbia that no one asked for;
- has stonewalled lawmakers time and time again in Senate and House hearings thereby not allowing Congress to perform its Constitutional duty of checks and balances on the Executive Branch;
- instilled a government-wide federal hiring freeze which resulted in thousands of service-connected disabled veterans not being able to use their earned 10-point veteran’s preference in hiring and axing critical workers staffing the Veterans Crisis Line; and
- gutted the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by senselessly fired thousands of workers and currently planning to fire tens of thousands more VA employees – and breaking the century-old promise that once a service member hangs up his or her uniform, the United States would take care of their health needs and administer earned benefits from their service;
…and so much more.
Being a military recruiter is not easy. When I recruited in the 1980s, it was my job to convince potential Marines that they were about to make the best decision they’ve ever made, and embark on the greatest journey they’ll ever experience. With unprecedented numbers of job losses at the VA, a Secretary of Defense throwing our national security personnel under the bus by leaking sensitive information, and a president who cozies up to other dictators, today’s recruiters have one tough, tough job.
There’s no question that this Administration has proven itself to be the most anti-military, anti-veteran in our nation’s history. After four full years of this president being in the White House for a second term, I fear that the end damage caused to our nation, our Armed Forces, and our reputation around the world will take no less than decades to repair.
___________
U.S. citizens living abroad, both civilian and military, are highly encouraged to check your voter registration status and request your ballot for any upcoming elections in your home voting state that you are eligible to vote in.
The VMF Caucus, proudly consisting of veterans, military family members, and strong allies of veterans and military family causes, has a membership of approximately 1,300 members located in dozens of countries.
For questions pertaining to this statement, please reach out to