~6.5 times as many people (~7M) turned out for the last no kings protest as there are total active duty military personnel on US soil (~1.14M). Sounds like a poor play, but again, irrational and/or unsophisticated people will take irrational and/or unsophisticated actions. The US military lost in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars after spending ~$6 trillion and countless lives, you’d think people would know better. Ah, well, “it is what it is.”

> Despite the recent recruitment gains, the overall size of the military workforce is down 38% from 1980; the total number of active-duty service members has declined 45,861 from 2022 to 2024, for a total of just under 1.3 million. And some recruiting challenges remain: The DOD reports that 77% of young adults in the US are unqualified to serve without a waiver.

> The three most-common factors for disqualification are obesity, educational deficits, and criminal or drug abuse records. Young adults also report low interest in serving. In a 2024 survey, 87% of people aged 16–21 said they were either “probably not” or “definitely not” considering enlistment.

https://www.gao.gov/military-readiness

https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-people-are-in-the-us-...

https://usafacts.org/articles/is-military-enlistment-down/

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/06/06/6-facts-a...