Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville said the United States’ inability to make military recruitment numbers is a “national security emergency.” Since the National Guard Association of the United States issued a statement June 28 explaining that every branch of the U.S. military has been having difficulty meeting recruiting goals for fiscal year 2022.

Struggling the most is the Army, which stated they have only recruited 40% of its total goal thus far in fiscal year 2022 with only three months left. A devastating reality is not just that the military is unable to recruit prospects, but that the number of qualified candidates and recruits are severely lacking.

The Army’s official website made the terrifying announcement that they have not faced this tough of a labor market since the military became completely volunteer based in 1973. “71% of youth do not qualify for military service because of obesity, drugs, physical and mental health problems, misconduct, and aptitude,” according to the Army recruiting website.

Another blow to recruiting which was pointed out by Senator Tuberville is that many recruits are ineligible due to their refusal (often upon religious ground, he said) to get the Covid-19 vaccinations. The Senator said he will continue to push for hearings on the issue with the Senate Armed Services Committee, on which he serves.

The Alabama Daily News reports on specifics, as well as the role the Biden administration has played into what has become a national security emergency:

The Army has shown hesitation to grant religious exemptions for its current soldiers. The branch released a statement in June along with data that showed that 4,736 active soldiers had filed for permanent religious exemptions from the vaccine as of June 23. Only 16 of those have been approved, and 1,185 have been denied.

As of June 23, the Army stated that 1,037 soldiers have been “separated” for refusing to receive the Covid vaccine.

Tuberville also cited a specific incident in February 2021 that he said “demoralized our men and women in uniform.”

In February 2021, Secretary of Defense Austin ordered the entire Department of Defense to stand down for one day and complete education and training on extremism. A work group was later developed in April to look further into the issue of extremism within the U.S. military, and the protocols and training materials were revised when the workforce released findings in December.

“This is an insult to the very people who pledge their lives to support and defend our country,” Tuberville said of the required anti-extremism training.

“Our military are not extremists; they are heroes.”

He said he believes the Biden administration is going about military recruiting in all the wrong ways, and that the withdrawal from Afghanistan is an important factor in the low recruiting numbers.

“American defeat and retreat does not inspire young people to sign up for our armed forces,” he said.

Tuberville joined other Republican Senators in calling out the Biden administration for trying to build a “woke Army.”

Diversity, equity, and inclusion training has been added to military curriculum and the ideas have been implemented in a series of army recruiting videos on YouTube.

Tuberville said these political ad campaigns are not helping inspire young recruits to enlist.

“We know what works: patriotism – pride in our country,” he said.

The Senator said he will continue to push for hearings regarding the issue. He serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee.