As college football season is now underway, the U.S. military service academies have or soon will be meeting on the gridiron – but regardless of the outcomes in those matches, all of the services have scored, with another and more significant way, namely reaching their respective recruiting goals.
The U.S. military has struggled for years to meet recruiting goals, but a series of new programs and policy changes have been adopted. Those efforts are now showing results.
Army Helping Recruits Be All They Can Be
The U.S. Army announced in late September that it had exceeded fiscal year 2024 (FY24) recruiting goals, with at least 55,300 total accessions.
“The U.S. Army’s recruiting force achieved our 55,000 accessions goal more than a month ahead of schedule, and we are on track to have more than 11,000 in our delayed entry program by the end of the month. This is more than double the goal we set for our delayed entry program and will allow our recruiting efforts for next year to start strong right out of the gate,” said Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth.
The Army Enterprise Marketing Office built upon its long-established “Be All You Can Be” branding campaign but also leveraged innovative new technologies to reach expanded audiences and help identify candidates interested in military service, the service stated.
The service also expanded its Future Soldier Preparatory Course, which was introduced to aid potential recruits overcome academic and physical fitness barriers to service, while not sacrificing quality for quantity. That included two additional companies at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and two more at Fort Moore, Georgia. For FY24, and as of mid-September, 13,206 trainees in the active component completed the FSPC and entered Basic Training.
Air Force Flying High
Last week, the Air Force Recruiting Service AFRS announced it reached its FY24 recruiting goal and marked the milestone with its time-honored bell-ringing ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.
“It’s an incredible honor to stand here today and ring this bell, signifying the relentless hard work and dedication of our recruiters and partners,” said Brigadier General Christopher Amrhein, ARFS commander. “This achievement is a testament to the collaborative efforts of our team and the resilience shown in overcoming the many challenges we faced this year.”
Air Force recruiters had a goal of hitting 27,100 non-prior military enlisted active-duty airmen, which was also met late last month. The air service had implemented numerous changes, including new body fast standards, marijuana wavers, and added incentives.
The Air Force had missed its recruiting goals for FY23 – the first time in 24 years – and it strived to turn things around for FY24.
“This is an incredible achievement, particularly in today’s challenging recruiting environment, where we face intense competition from the private sector,” Amrhein said last month.
The air service is now looking to increase its FY25 recruiting goals by 20%.
U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard All Exceeded Goals
Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced last Tuesday that the U.S. Navy exceeded its FY24 goals, which had been set at 40,600 – an increase from the two previous years, even though it missed the mark in both years. The Navy brought in 40,978 active-duty enlisted recruits.
The sea service had gotten off to a slow start, but it exceeded the goals from April to September.
“Our recruiters generated such a high rate of improvement that we were not able to ship them all in FY24,” said Rear Adm. James Waters, Commander of Navy Recruiting Command (NRC).
“Those new future sailors will flow to Recruit Training Command this fall as we take on the FY25 mission,” Waters added. “This is a tremendous achievement, and it’s all thanks to the relentless dedication, professionalism, and hard work our recruiters have put in over the past year.”
The Marine Corps, which has consistently hit its recruiting goals, enlisted 27,500 new active-duty Marines, while it recruited 3,001 reservists, one more than its goal. It also surpassed its active-duty officers recruiting 1,721 while the goal was set at 1,695.
The Coast Guard also recovered from a slow start in FY24, but for the first time since 2017 exceeded all of its targets, including enlisted active duty, Reserve, and non-academy officer program accessions. It accessed more than 4,4400 active duty personnel in FY24. To meet the goals, it opened new recruiting offices and added the Scout Talent and Refer (STAR) program, which offered a $1,000 award to any Coast Guard member or employee who referred a recruit.
“By exceeding this year’s recruiting mission, we are building a stronger Coast Guard, leaving the service better prepared for tomorrow’s challenges,” said Capt. Ben Keffer, commanding officer of Coast Guard Recruiting Command (CGRC). “We encourage Coast Guard members and employees to keep telling your friends about careers in the Coast Guard and to keep up their great work.”
The Space Force Has No Recruiting Problems
As the newest and smallest branch of the U.S. military, the U.S. Space Force has a different problem when it comes to recruitment – namely it has too many applications. More than 4,000 people sought to sign up in FY23, but the service had a fraction of available billets.
For FY24, the Space Force set a goal of 700 recruits, which were filled earlier this year.
In addition, the Space Force has given an option for recruits to sign up for an initial term of eight years on active duty – twice that of the other branches. The plan was to build a more stable workforce for the service.
