Bill Galvin has spent much of the past month answering the phone. As counseling director at the Center on Conscience and War, which helps run the 24-hour GI Rights Hotline, he says calls have surged — many asking how to apply to become conscientious objectors, but a steady stream also airing concerns and frustrations anonymously. In March the center took on more than 80 new clients, nearly twice its typical annual intake; the busiest day added 12 new clients, one caller saying four others in their platoon were also interested.
Those numbers are small compared with more than 1.3 million people enlisted, but advocates and some former and current officials say the calls reveal a deeper unease in the ranks. NPR’s interviews with counselors, career officers and service members indicate a pattern: more troops are exploring ways to leave, citing low morale, ethical concerns and political shifts as drivers. Recruitment began rebounding in 2024 and the Pentagon said all five services met FY25 targets, but retention is crucial for preserving expertise, and some career counselors worry it’s weakening.
“Retention is the only thing holding the Army up, from a metrics standpoint. And it is crumbling fast,” an Army career counselor told NPR on condition of anonymity, blaming climate and cultural shifts under the current administration. Service members are retiring early, choosing not to reenlist, applying for medical separations or, in some cases, breaking enlistment contracts despite consequences.
Conservative scholar Kori Schake said turmoil stems partly from the administration “dragging the military into the culture wars” and creating perceptions that women and people of color are being sidelined, undermining the military’s meritocratic ethos. Adam Weinstein of the Quincy Institute said visible chaos out of the Pentagon can discourage talented recruits considering military careers.
Many callers tell Galvin the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran — and a specific incident, the bombing of a girls’ school in Iran that killed at least 165 civilians on the first day of the war — crystallized moral objections. A preliminary U.S. assessment reportedly found the U.S. at fault; NPR has reported the site may have appeared on outdated target lists. “It comes up almost always. It’s like, ‘I can’t be a part of something that’s doing that,’” Galvin said.
The Pentagon pushes back on claims of retention problems. Press secretary Kingsley Wilson told NPR there are “zero retention concerns for Fiscal Year 2026,” and a White House spokesperson credited restored readiness and recruitment gains. Experts note, however, that service members deciding to leave often won’t show up in official data for months or years.
For some service members the Iran war was a tipping point. A full-time Ohio Air National Guard member said he called the hotline the day after the war began to explore separation. After three airmen from his base died in a refueling accident in Iraq, his anger and urgency grew: “I think it was the most angry I’ve ever felt in my life,” he told NPR, asking for anonymity. He’s applied for civilian jobs and is prepared to accept the consequences of leaving before his contract ends.
Many service members also say policy choices and personnel moves under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the White House have exacerbated dissatisfaction. Since the president’s second term began, controversial uses of troops — deployments to U.S. cities and overseas strikes — plus efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs and a Pentagon reshuffle that included firing senior officers, have left some unsettled. NPR reported Hegseth intervened to stop promotions of four officers, two Black and two female, to one-star ranks; critics call the official “the Secretary of Culture Wars” and warn such moves accelerate a “brain drain.”
Career counselors report rising demand for separation assistance. In 2025 one counselor saw the highest number of retirees seeking guidance in their experience — nearly double 2024 — and many first-term soldiers are asking about moving to the Individual Ready Reserve instead of staying on active duty. The mandatory Transition Assistance Program for separating members has struggled to keep up; coordinators have reported unprecedented demand and long waits.
One of the most time-consuming paths out is applying for conscientious objector (CO) status, a process open to volunteers as well as draftees. The Supreme Court ruled in 1970 that religious belief is not required to claim CO status. Mike Prysner, executive director of the Center on Conscience and War and an Army veteran, says the organization’s callers increasingly cite Israel’s war in Gaza and U.S. support for Israel as moral turning points. Where the center used to get a few calls a week about CO status, it’s now seeing three or four daily.
Callers come from across ranks and specialties — elite units, Special Forces, Top Gun pilots, physicians, even a major, Prysner said. Many service members didn’t know CO status was an option; some career counselors had never fielded inquiries about CO packets until recently. The application involves a written statement, a psychological evaluation, an interview with a chaplain and an investigation, and can take months or years. Importantly, filing for CO status typically removes a service member from duties they object to immediately, which has made the option attractive to those facing imminent deployment.
Galvin and Prysner said they’ve helped people file brief statements to get on record and avoid being sent to the Middle East on short notice. Steve Woolford, a resource counselor at Quaker House, which also staffs the GI Rights Hotline, said his organization has seen call volume more than double since the Iran war began. Many callers don’t identify as pacifists; they say they want to defend the country but feel unsettled by how the military is being used. Woolford tries to walk callers through alternatives such as medical separation or reassignment.
Woolford, who has run the hotline through the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, said the current moment feels busier and different. “People are very, very confused. The suspicion or distrust of the government seems to be much higher right now,” he said, noting fears about being asked to carry out illegal orders or become complicit in war crimes.
Some who have left describe relief. “Karl,” a former military physician who was honorably discharged as a conscientious objector in March after applying in 2025, called the process “an enormous undertaking” and “terrifying,” but ultimately necessary. He encouraged service members to reflect on their service, saying questioning is legal and human. The Ohio Guard member planning to separate said he’s discussed his decision with others in his unit; most were supportive, and he expects leaving will be “a weight off my back.”
Across these accounts, advocates, current and former officials and counselors see the same pattern: recruitment gains coexist with growing expressions of moral objection, distrust and a record demand for separation assistance. Whether that becomes a broad retention crisis remains contested, but for individuals now, the Iran war has been a powerful accelerant for decisions to leave the military.