Craig Morgan, a country music artist, had opted to leave the military after more than 17 years of service, including almost a decade on active duty.
Fans in the ancient halls of the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night were in for an extraordinary surprise when Morgan, 59, was sworn in as a warrant officer with the United States Army Reserves, becoming the first person to commission in Nashville, Tennessee, the birthplace of country music.
“I feel like an 18-year-old kid, I can tell you,” Morgan told NBC News ahead of the event. “I’m both excited and nervous.” But I’m humbled. “I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
Morgan told Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., after performing at a military fundraiser a year ago that leaving the service too soon was his “biggest regret.”
“As a, you know, throwaway comment, I said, ‘I’d love to finish my commitment — that’s a 20-year commitment to our country, and I want to finish that,’” Morgan said of their chat. Soon later, Blackburn’s team linked Morgan with Department of Defence officials.
Morgan’s own aspirations took a back seat to the major reason he opted to serve again, which was predicted deficiencies across many military branches. “I feel like if a guy like me, with the career that I have, can go in and participate… anybody can do it,” he remarked aboard a tour bus in Britt, Iowa, on Friday.
Morgan, who grew up impoverished, said the military opened doors for him: “If you join the military, you’re going to be afforded opportunities and situations to enhance and grow your life that you can’t get in the civilian populace.”
According to recent congressional testimony from Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, the Army missed its recruitment target of 15,000 new recruits last year and is on course to miss it by 10,000 this year. Both the Navy and the Air Force anticipate to fall short of their recruitment targets.
In recent years, the military has been politicised, with some Republicans blaming “far-left woke” policies like once-mandatory Covid vaccines, abortion access, and LGBTQ inclusion for the drop in recruiting.
Wormuth shot against similar assertions in June, telling MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”: “We are a ready Army, not a ‘woke’ Army.” She also warned journalists that the “drip, drip, drip of criticism about a woke military is having some counterproductive effects on recruiting.”
Blackburn, a former member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told NBC News on Friday that she feels there isn’t a “emphasis on doing for others that there ought to be,” adding, “People who go into the military are selfless and they put others before themselves.”
Morgan repeated Blackburn’s remarks, but was unable to specify a precise reason why the military is unable to attract enough recruits. “Budgets are essential. “It is critical to build up our military forces,” he stated.
“I also think it has a lot to do with this right here,” Morgan remarked as he held out his iPhone during the virtual interview. “They’re fantastic when used correctly.” But there’s something to be said about having to speak to someone, depend on someone, and support someone.”
The Tennessee native, who sadly lost his son, Jerry, in a tubing accident in 2016, said individuals who refuse to join the military because of political differences should “put all of that aside.”
“I may not agree with everything this administration does, but I still go to work and do my job and be the best I can be for everyone else,” he added.
General Andrew Poppas, head of Army Forces Command, remarked in front of the American flag on the podium where he swore in Morgan, “Every soldier who enters the Army has the opportunity to become the best version of themselves, and Staff Sgt. Morgan is no exception.”
Poppas stated that he is “excited to see what he [Morgan] accomplishes and how he influences other soldiers throughout the Army.”
Morgan will be posted to Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, where he will spend two days every month. The artist is presently touring the nation on his God, Family, nation tour.
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