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.
Recruitment began to rebound in 2024, prior to President Trump's reelection, and after a major slump during the COVID-19 pandemic. In December, the Pentagon said all five branches of the military hit their recruitment targets. But retention is an essential tool for the military to keep institutional knowledge and expertise.
"Retention is the only thing holding the Army up, from a metrics standpoint. And it is crumbling fast," one career counselor with the Army, the largest branch of the military, told NPR. That person spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak publicly. They said that the climate and cultural shifts within the military under this administration are the main reasons people are giving for leaving.
"It has been a mess, and many individuals feel frustration throughout the ranks," that counselor said.
Military members are choosing to retire early or to not reenlist when their contracts are up, according to those who spoke with NPR. Others are applying for medical separation or are breaking their enlistment contracts regardless of the consequences.
Kori Schake, of the conservative American Enterprise Institute, says some of the turmoil stems from the Trump administration "dragging the military into the culture wars" and creating "the perception that women and people of color haven't earned leadership responsibilities in our military."
"It is not just women and people of color in the service who are feeling discouraged. It's people who wonder whether the military can preserve its inclusive meritocracy under the kind of political pressure that major politicians are putting it under," says Schake, who served at the State Department during the George W. Bush administration.
Adam Weinstein of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, which supports U.S. military restraint worldwide, says that the upheaval has sent a signal to upcoming talent.
"When you see chaos within the U.S. military, to some degree, at least coming out of the Pentagon, what message does that send to the best and brightest who might want to make a career out of the U.S. military?" Weinstein says.
Galvin says nearly all the callers he talks to mention the bombing of a girls school in Iran on the first day of the war, which killed at least 165 civilians, many of them children. A preliminary assessment determined the U.S. was at fault, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly. NPR previously reported that the girls school was once part of what had been an Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval base and may have been shown on outdated U.S. target lists as a military building.
"It comes up almost always. It's like, 'I can't be a part of something that's doing that,'" he says.
When asked about retention, the Pentagon pushed back on the assertion that there's a problem. "There are zero retention concerns for Fiscal Year 2026. Every service is meeting its targets, and any suggestion otherwise is completely false," said Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson in an email to NPR. Service members who are seeking to leave in this moment wouldn't show up in any hard data for months or even years, according to experts.
"President Trump has restored readiness, lethality and a focus on warfighters at the Department of War," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly wrote, noting high recruitment numbers, in an email to NPR when asked about morale.
It is true that the military has faced a recruitment crisis in recent years, with Rand finding that in 2023, the Army, Navy and Air Force all fell short of goals. But data shows that the uptick really began under the Biden administration, likely because of an increase in pay for military members, according to Rand, and as the military continued improving the recruitment process and boosted advertising and marketing.
"The most angry I've ever felt"
A full-time member of the Ohio Air National Guard told NPR he called the GI Rights Hotline the day after the Iran war began. He'd been struggling with his role in the military, especially under the Trump administration, for months and wanted to explore options for separation.
But when three airmen from his base were among six killed in a refueling accident in Iraq on March 12, he says it made him feel like he couldn't wait any longer.
"I think it was the most angry I've ever felt in my life," he said, asking to not use his name as he worries that speaking to the press will make the separation process more difficult for him. "In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to just leave and wash my hands of that place and just be done."
He has been with the guard for more than a decade and still has more than two years left in his contract, but he has started applying to jobs outside the military. He says he doesn't know what the ramifications of that decision will be, but he's willing to deal with whatever it is.
"I'm kind of just rolling with it, with the idea that there's a light at the end of this," he says.
"Secretary of Culture Wars"
Since Trump began his second term, his administration's legally questionable use of the armed forces — from his deployment of the National Guard to several cities led by Democrats to U.S. strikes on Venezuelan boats — has left a growing number in the military unsettled and demoralized, according to NPR interviews with service members.
The White House has also worked to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the military, leading many to question how they fit in. And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has conducted a major restructuring of the Pentagon, including widespread firings of four-star admirals and generals, most recently Gen. Randy George, then the Army chief of staff, in the midst of the war with Iran.
Now, as that war has spread throughout the region and killed more than a dozen U.S. service members, many are worried about what comes next.
Some are opting simply to not reenlist or to retire early.
The Army career counselor said that in 2025, they had the highest number of retirees come to see them for guidance on getting ready to leave than in any previous year in their experience, approximating nearly a doubling of such retirees from 2024. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the career counselor said many on first-term contracts are asking how to leave active duty early and become part of the Individual Ready Reserve, in which they're on call but not actively serving.
Several members of the military told NPR that it has been difficult for people to book a slot in the Transition Assistance Program. That program was recently made mandatory for anyone separating from service, including retirement.
One high-ranking member of the Air Force, who chose to retire early last year due to concerns over how the Trump administration was leading the military, told NPR that the program they originally sought last year was booked out for six months. They eventually found a program at a different base.
"When talking to the program coordinator, he told me that he had never seen so much demand for the course," the Air Force member said, speaking on condition of anonymity, as their retirement is still in process.
They called the popularity of the program a "lagging indicator," referring to how many people are trying to leave as a result of concerns over leadership, even before the Iran war began. "This is a big deal," they said.
Another U.S. military official who spoke on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak publicly, pointed to the recent incident where Hegseth intervened to stop the promotions of four officers — two Black, two female — to one-star generals.
"The Secretary of Culture Wars is waging an internal battle," they said, referring to Hegseth. "This can only accelerate the brain drain we're already seeing."
In response to that comment, Wilson, the Pentagon press secretary, told NPR, "Leadership matters and men and women are excited to serve under the strong leadership of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth," while referencing the high recruitment numbers.
Conscientious objectors
One of the most time-intensive ways to separate is to apply to become a conscientious objector, meaning someone who has decided they are morally against war.
Hundreds of thousands of men applied for the status during the Vietnam War to avoid being drafted. There's no active draft now, so applicants are primarily service members who voluntarily signed up.
"It's people who have a strong moral objection to what they're seeing going on in the world and don't want any part in it anymore," says Mike Prysner, executive director of the Center on Conscience and War and an Army veteran.
In 1970, the Supreme Court ruled that religious beliefs were no longer necessary to claim conscientious objector status. Prysner says many of the people whom the center has been working with recently have cited Israel's war in Gaza — as well as the United States' military support to Israel — as a turning point for them morally questioning war at large.
After Trump came into office for his second term, calls surged around specific moments too, like when the National Guard and Marines were deployed to Los Angeles.
When the U.S. and Israel launched the war against Iran, he says, there was a shift. The center used to get a handful of calls a week; now it's usually three or four a day asking about conscientious objector status.
"When Iran hit, I think it was kind of like a detonator for all of those things that had been building," Prysner says, noting that the center is getting calls across ranks.
"People with really accomplished careers, people in very elite jobs, people who are in Special Forces, people who are Top Gun fighter pilots, physicians, surgeons. ... Our highest-ranking CO client right now is a major in the military," he said.
Many service members don't even really know that applying as a conscientious objector, or CO, is an option.
"I never in five years in Retention had someone ask about a CO packet," said the Army career counselor, who has served for nearly two decades. "But in 2025, I had a handful of inquiries for help. So, I personally had to learn about the process, rather suddenly."
The application process is long. It involves a written statement, a psych evaluation, an interview with a military chaplain and an investigating officer assigned to each case, according to those familiar with it. It almost certainly takes months, even stretching into years.
But submitting an application means a service member has to be removed from duties they object to immediately — so it's also one way to keep from being imminently deployed.
Galvin and Prysner say that has become incredibly pertinent in recent weeks.
"We're getting calls from people who are going to be deployed, like within days, or sometimes even the next day, and so we're helping them put together at least a very brief statement that will hopefully then get them on record," Galvin says, noting that he knows of several members who have avoided imminent deployment to the Middle East this way in recent weeks.
Steve Woolford is a resource counselor with Quaker House, which provides counseling and support to service members who are questioning their role in the military, and also helps run the GI Rights Hotline. He says they too have had call volume more than double since the Iran war began, with a majority of callers expressing interest in the conscientious objector application process.
"We've had a lot of calls from people who don't identify as nonviolent or pacifists," says Woolford. "They identify as everyday service members who are willing to defend the country but feel very unsettled and suspicious about the ways the military is being used now."
In those cases, he says, he tries to talk them through other options that might be available to them, such as medical separation or reassignment.
Woolford has been doing this job and answering the hotline for more than 25 years. He took calls through both the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War, when call volume also spiked. But now, he says, it feels busier — and different.
"People are very, very confused. The suspicion or distrust of the government seems to be much higher right now," he says, noting that many are expressing concern they might be asked to carry out illegal orders or be complicit in war crimes.
A weight lifted
Karl is a former military physician who was honorably discharged as a conscientious objector in March. He applied for the status back in 2025. He asked NPR not to use his full name as he's still in legal proceedings with the military over his discharge.
He called the process an "enormous undertaking" and "terrifying" but ultimately something he felt compelled to do. And while he acknowledged that becoming a conscientious objector is intense, he encouraged others to reflect on their service too, even if they don't choose the same path.
"It is legal for people to question. It may not be comfortable, but it is legal. And while we have those rights, then you're free to exercise them," Karl says. "It means you're a human and you're allowed to have doubts."
The Ohio Air National Guard member who is planning to separate says he has talked to others in his unit about his decision. Most have been supportive.
"The people that I've talked to about it, there's not a negative perception of it. And I think a part of that is because a lot of people know that what we're doing isn't right," he says.
And he thinks he'll be healthier once he's no longer a part of something that he says doesn't align with his values anymore.
"It will definitely be a weight off my back," he says.
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