| petite6 |
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| Jokers Wild |
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| Reged: 08/14/06 |
| Posts: 189618 |
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 There's growing disquiet in the military. The Iran war made it worse
04/10/26 09:16 AM
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https://www.npr.org/2026/04/10/nx-s1-5771612/military-iran-war-trump-conscientious-objector?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
Bill Galvin has spent much of the past month answering the phone.
"It's been very, very busy," he says. Galvin is the counseling director at the Center on Conscience and War, which helps run the 24-hour GI Rights Hotline, set up to inform service members of their options for military discharge.
Most callers are asking how to apply to become a conscientious objector — a difficult, invasive and rarely used process. But they're also airing their concerns and frustrations, often anonymously, as the hotline allows them a space to do so without repercussions.
Military members are citing myriad reasons for wanting to leave, but the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has been a powerful motivator. In March alone, Galvin's center took on more than 80 new clients — almost twice as many as it takes on in an average year. The busiest single day saw 12 new clients join, with one person saying four other members of their platoon were also interested.
Those numbers are a drop in the bucket when compared with the more than 1.3 million people enlisted. But for outside observers and former military officials, those calls and conversations are an indication of a troubling disquiet within the ranks.
The uptick is part of a larger pattern of military members seeking ways to end their service, according to NPR interviews with several organizations like Galvin's and military members who deal directly with these issues. While there is no hard contemporaneous data on the number of members seeking to exit, the people NPR spoke to for this story say they have seen undeniable cracks in the military's ability to retain troops, largely due to low morale or ethical concerns.
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