The U.S. military is showing solid progress in recruiting, after years of struggles and shortfalls in filling out its ranks. So far this year, three of the four major service branches are on track to meet or exceed their annual recruiting goals. The Marine Corps is already ahead of its year-to-date goal, while the Army and Air Force are on track to meet their goals by the end of the year. Only the Navy expects to fall short of its recruiting goal.
This is a marked improvement from last year, when only the Marines hit their recruiting goal. In fact, all four branches are ahead of last year's recruiting pace. Even the Navy, which is still projected to fall short, is about 10% ahead of last year. Military leaders credit changes in outdated physical requirements and better messaging for the improved numbers. "What we did was align our body composition requirements with the DoD standard, and because of that we've been able to bring in over 3,000 more recruits," says Brig. Gen. Christopher Amhrein, Air Force recruiting commander, in a recent interview with Fox News.
Amhrein adds that they have not weakened or changed the actual physical fitness requirements. "We haven't adjusted the fitness standard," he says. "Of those 3,000 (new recruits), we have only lost one to a physical fitness standard."
"Instead, this was about the barriers (to recruiting) that we have been able to remove, as well as being able to really get out there and better tell our story, from our recruiters' standpoint."
Photo: EyeEm