Florida's Governor is telling South Carolina voters he believes the U.S. should maintain an all-volunteer military, with part of the reason being that Americans aren't in good enough condition to serve.
During a speech in Greenville, Ron DeSantis held forth on the future of the armed forces if he becomes President.
"Iif you just start drafting people, I mean, there's a lot of folks that don't have the physical standards. There's a lot, I mean, I think there would be a lot of problems with that. So we need to recruit in the all-volunteer force," DeSantis said.
The Governor's comments could be interpreted as a damning indictment of this generation's physical conditioning.
The U.S. Army fitness test, for example, includes a 50-minute trial with a strength deadlift, a standing power throw, push-ups, planking and a two-mile run.
The Governor, who notes that if he is elected President he would be the first veteran since George H.W. Bush in 1988 (eliding George W. Bush's service in the Texas National Guard in that narrative), also suggested ideological reasons keep people from enlisting.
"When they see the military being used for other reasons, I think that people got a lot of other stuff they can do, a lot of them are going to do other things, and we are not going to be able to sustain, we're not going to be able to deter China and keep this country strong if we can't get people to join the military."
DeSantis was in South Carolina last year when he rolled out a plan to root out the "woke mind virus" from the military, and what's clear is that in this veteran-heavy state, he's betting on a connection with those who also served.
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