Chinook High School Senior, Ryan Meneely was sworn in to serve in the United States Army in Butte on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS). For many Veterans seeing a young person take the Oath of Enlistment carries a lot of meaning, especially with recruitment numbers in recent years being so down. Recent analyses, "The Defense Department is facing a recruiting crisis. The number of young Americans wanting to enlist is near a record low, a deficit not seen in almost half a century. In 2022, for example, the US Army fell short of its recruitment target by 25 percent. Other notable down trends were recorded for the Navy and Air Force. The Marine Corps did better, but in large part only due to high retention rates."

Ryan took some time to make his decision, "I really started to think about joining the service probably Jan 2022." In doing so there was only one branch of service that peeked his interest, "Probably always Army, not really any particular reason it's just where I always thought of going if I was to join, and I never really even considered the others." Before making his decision Ryan looked at several options, "I really considered college for a long time but the more I thought and the more that I looked into the Army I knew that enlisting is what I wanted to do."

Some may wonder what led Ryan to the Army in particular and he has an answer, "The job opportunities in the Army really appeal to me. I always wanted to be a mechanic and in the beginning I always considered my first option to include working on Humvee's or Tanks and then after a while I started to learn about other things I could do, and it turned to being an Aviation mechanic." Upon completing Basic Training at Fort Sill in Oklahoma Ryan will head to Fort Huachuca in Arizona for his Advanced Individual Training to become a MQ/1 Repair Technician.

Ryan is excited to become a part of this field in particular, "My primary work will be working on the big army drones, and I will start out as part of a team specifically assigned to single drone and go wherever it goes." According to the Army website this training will include "Working with cutting-edge technology and surveillance, maintaining unmanned aircraft by making sure they are ready to fly and able to gather and transmit important intelligence information. You'll repair electrical, avionics, propulsions, communications, takeoff and landing, and fuel systems. Your duties will include mechanical oversight tearing it apart and going over it to ensure mission capabilities." As far as expanding his duties on the drone team, he thinks he will like where he is, "I want to stick to the mechanical side. I don't want to be involved in the piloting."

Ryan will head to Basic Training at Fort Sill on August 27, 2023. Upon completing the 9 Week training he will then head to Fort Huachuca for his 27 Week AIT course where upon graduation he will be assigned to his next command.

Once Ryan made the decision to enlist the process went pretty quick, "I went to see the Army recruiter the first time on February 23 in Great Falls and we went over options, what was available and so forth. We got done and he sent me home with all the pamphlets and stuff. I got back with him right away and was in MEPS in Butte on March 21 to do my swearing in." Ryan added, "My Grandpa was in the service and that really motivated me to want to join. I talked to a bunch of people and they all though it would be a good career option for me. Everyone, friends and family, all thought it was pretty cool and are proud of me and I'm excited. In the end I just really wanted to serve my country. I feel it's an honor to be able to do so and it takes a strong person to do it mentally and physically. We need it, the country needs it, I hope more people take the oath to serve!"

As for the downturn in recruitment, the brains that have many thoughts as to why, A Boston Globe Opinion piece stated, "Some analysts explain that a strong economy is the reason, particularly as the last two decades of near nonstop warfare affected just 1 percent of American families with ties to our fighting forces. And yet many Americans have tired of war, it seems, even at a great distance. Fewer and fewer of us and our neighbors remember faraway places on military maps named Fallujah and Helmand or Korengal and Sadr City, locations where many US troops were killed or wounded."

The same piece offered another take as well, "In the worst days of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, large bonuses helped keep service members in priority areas, such as intelligence, infantry, and logistics. The current challenge runs deeper - to a level of identity and purpose and perhaps even baseline trust between the soldier and the state, not derived from cash but by something else."

Thank you, Ryan, for making the decision to serve your country in the United States Army!