Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth blamed negative media coverage about the service for exacerbating its recruiting slump, including stories about mental health issues some soldiers face and seemingly rampant sexual assault across the entire military.
“For parents and influencers, there are concerns over psychological harm,” Wormuth, the Army's top civilian, told soldiers at a conference Tuesday, adding that the coverage of those issues is creating a warped perception of the service. “Parents see headlines about suicides and sexual harassment and assault in the military.”
A July Army memo penned by Wormuth and Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville painted a grim picture of the recruiting environment. The two senior leaders projected the size of the total Army to decrease to 452,000 by the end of 2023, a loss of about 14,000 soldiers.
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In 2021, the active-duty Army saw 176 suicides, the most in any year since the beginning of the post-9/11 wars, according to the most recent Pentagon data. The Army Reserve had 45 soldiers die by suicide and the Army National Guard lost 101 troops, both of which were comparable to previous years.
Reports of sexual assault across the military services rose 13% in 2021, mostly spurred by a 26% jump in the Army compared to the previous year. However, it's unclear whether that increase…
