The Army announced Tuesday that it had already reached its annual goal of recruiting 61,000 active-duty soldiers, fueled by efforts to reach out to young Americans who historically have been unqualified to serve and likely a weakening economy.
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have praised recruiting momentum as a sign of renewed patriotism among the nation's youth. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, credited the uptick to "a resurgence of pride in our country" and "a generation inspired by purpose and service."
The service met the goal months ahead of schedule after it and the other military branches struggled in recent years with recruiting. The Army had set out to recruit 61,000 soldiers by the end of fiscal 2025, which is Sept. 30.
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The early success has prompted the Pentagon to consider the rare move of increasing the Army's end strength -- the total number of soldiers in its ranks. Among the options, the Pentagon could invoke a relatively obscure authority that allows the defense secretary to increase a service's end strength by up to 3% without congressional action.
It is not yet clear what is driving the increase in recruiting after the Army and other services barely met their goals last year. But a variety of factors are likely at play.
There is no evidence that the identity or rhetoric of any particular administration influences enlistment, as the motivation to serve is traditionally driven by economic opportunities and sometimes as a direct path for a young person to leave their hometown.
The service also hit its less ambitious recruiting goal of 55,000 enlistments last year.
Much of the Army's recruiting woes is attributable to a shrinking pool of young Americans eligible to serve. The Pentagon estimates just under one-quarter of 17- to 24-year-olds can meet enlistment standards, namely passing the SAT-style entrance exam and meeting body weight requirements.
Some service officials and experts have tied recent recruiting struggles to the military being out of the cultural zeitgeist.
A sharp increase in the number of required medical waivers has complicated the effort to bring Americans into the service -- driven in part by the implementation of Military Health System Genesis, a digital health record system that provides the military with unprecedented access to applicants' medical histories.
Recruiters say the system often flags minor or outdated health issues, causing enlistments to stall or be denied unnecessarily. Internal Army data shows that medical waivers have nearly tripled, rising from 5,300 in 2022 to almost 15,000 in 2024.
At the same time, the Army has relaxed some of its standards related to criminal history. In 2022, it approved the enlistment of 98 individuals with felony convictions -- a number that climbed to 401 in 2024. However, officials noted that applicants with convictions related to sexual offenses remain ineligible for service.
But central to the turnaround is the Future Soldier Preparatory Courses, a program launched in 2022 that provides academic and fitness instruction for applicants who fall short of enlistment standards.
As part of the prep courses, an applicant moves onto basic training once they're in compliance with service standards. As of Friday, 10,465 troops had gone through at least one of those courses this year, according to data provided by the service.
The service loses nearly one-quarter of its fresh enlistees within the first two years of their contract, mostly due to injuries, health concerns or disciplinary problems, internal service data shows. Troops who attend the prep courses have about a 25% attrition rate, compared to 20% of soldiers who enlisted straight into basic training.
Meanwhile, a softening economy could also factor into wider interest in military service.
Trump's ongoing trade war and economic instability caused a 0.3% contraction in the U.S. economy in the first quarter of this year, the worst quarterly performance in three years. Youth unemployment has also edged upward as companies cut back on entry-level hiring amid volatility in the tech sector and the rapid rollout of artificial intelligence in some companies.
Among the Army's recruits counted for this year, 11,000 joined last year through the delayed-entry program, which allows young applicants, primarily high school seniors, to commit to service early and ship to basic training after they graduate.
That figure is more than double the program's usual size, a temporary surge made necessary by training backlogs last year. In response, the Army expanded the number of basic training companies this year to process the larger pipeline.
For the rest of the fiscal year, all new recruits will be entered in the delayed-entry program and thus will be counted in next year's recruiting numbers.
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