Currently, all U.S. branches of the military, except the Space Force, are struggling to meet their recruitment goals. The Air Force in years past has had too much interest, but they are also struggling this year, switching gears now to use members within its branch to recruit new members. The Air Force launched two programs early in the summer of 2023 that include its current and future members to bring in more recruits and to say thank you to the new recruits with both promotion opportunities and awards available. If successful, these programs could be implemented by other branches.
Air Force Recruiting
The Air Force hasn’t missed a recruiting quota since 1999. In 2023, it missed its goal by approximately 2,700 or 10% of the projected 26,877 Airmen it hoped to recruit. In May, Air Force leaders saw the writing on the wall and worked to create new strategies to help bring more recruits into both the Air Force and Space Force.
1. Stellar Talent Acquisition Recruiting Referral (STARR)
In May, the Air Force implemented Stellar Talent Acquisition Recruiting Referral (STARR) and Stripes for Referrals. These programs are available for both Guardians and Airmen even though the Space Force did meet its recruiting target in 2023. STARR is a program that awards Air and Space Achievement Medals to enlisted (E-1 to E-7) and officer (O1 to O5) Airman or Guardians who refer a recruit who departs for basic training. Three referrals will score them a second medal. And if any enlisted member or officer up to the rank of Col refers five members, they will receive an Air and Space Commendation Medal. It is a new strategy to work to get others who are already serving to help in the recruitment effort.
By July, the first Airman became eligible for the medal when Airman 1st Class Makenzee Johnson referred a friend from her hometown in New Mexico to her recruiter. She had such a positive experience joining she wanted to share the opportunity with others saying, “Service in the Air Force really sells itself.” These glowing recommendations from service members are what the Air Force is looking for. Knowing they have to contend with everything out there on social media. Having a friend refer someone could be the missing piece to help get more people to join.
2. Stripes for Referrals
The second program Stripes for Referrals targets the Air and Space Forces’ most junior members. Allowing members to increase in rank to the grade of E-3 by recruiting others to join. If these young troops refer two to four candidates they can be promoted to E-2 and E-3 respectively. To get credit for referrals participants must use the Aim High recruiting app. The app is another way the Air Force is working to reach the next generation of recruits.
According to Brig Gen Chris Amrhein, who took over as the Commander of Air Force Recruiting Services in June, if the changes hadn’t been made it would have been even worse. He told Stars and Stripes, “If we hadn’t deviated much from our former recruiting practices, this recruitment shortfall would have been much worse.” At the end of March the Air Force projected it would miss its recruiting goal by 4,100 people so to see that drop down to only 2,700 shows the Air Force that not only these new recruiting programs are helping. But the Air Force also relaxed standards around drug use, body composition, and tattoos which allowed an additional 1,000 recruits to join.
The Air Force hopes to meet its recruiting goal for FY2024 after seeing strong numbers in the last quarter of 2023. They believe the changes made from March to May are what is helping drive the change. But the Air Force, which has not had to worry about recruiting for more than twenty years, seems desperate to find ways to get back to recruiting goals.
