With all the services facing manning challenges, it might be time to revisit the health conditions—some that are manageable or even curable—that would disqualify a potential recruit from military service.

Recruit Medical Standards Are Out of Touch

The services should revisit the list of disqualifying medical, physical, and mental heath conditions and ask whether a condition reasonably should prevent someone from serving in the armed forces.

Commander Brian Sattler, U.S. Coast Guard
March 2024
President Joe Biden, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (right), and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese deliver remarks on AUKUS in March 2023. The accord’s true value is its show of political will and the interoperability and resilience it will build in the Indo-Pacific.

AUKUS Is More than Hard Power

The value of navies is found not just in their cumulative tonnage, but also in the placement of their naval power in a broader diplomatic and political construct.

Joshua C. Huminski
February 2024
An explosive ordnance disposal technician conducts a training scenario.

Engineering Special Operations

The joint forces must combine special forces operations and Navy explosive ordnance disposal units to detect chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) anomalies.

January 2024