WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 After several difficult years, the Army and Air Force say they are on track to meet their recruiting goals this year, reversing previous shortfalls using a swath of new programs and policy changes. But the Navy, while improving, expects once again to fall short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mixed results reflect the ongoing challenges for the U.S. military as it struggles to attract recruits in a tight job market, where companies are willing to pay more and provide good benefits without the demands of service and warfighting. And even those who are meeting their goals say they are still finding it difficult to attract the dwindling number of young people<\/u><\/a> who can meet the military\u2019s physical, mental and moral standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With half a year to go in the recruiting year, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said she is optimistic about hitting the 55,000 enlistment goal and getting an additional 5,000 recruits for the delayed entry pool that would come in during the next year or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRight now we are 5,000 contracts ahead of where we were compared to this time last year,\u201d Wormuth said in an interview with The Associated Press. \u201cI don\u2019t want to set expectations too high right now, but I\u2019m feeling good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>For the Army, it is a bright spot in what has been a long slog of low numbers and lengthy deliberations<\/u><\/a> on how to reverse the momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, the Navy, Army and Air Force all failed to meet their recruitment goals. The Marine Corps<\/u><\/a> and the tiny Space Force have consistently hit their targets, although the Marines have struggled a bit. The previous fiscal year, the Army fell 15,000 short<\/u><\/a> of its enlistment goal of 60,000, and the other services had to dig into the pools of delayed entry candidates in order to meet their recruiting numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>Now, with six months of recruiting under their belts \u2014 including the historically meager winter months \u2014 the Air Force and Army are optimistic they\u2019ll meet their goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A key success, said Wormuth, has been the Army\u2019s future soldier prep course, which has graduated about 17,000 soldiers since it was started in August 2022, including about 5,300 so far in this current fiscal year. The prep course, which is now at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and Fort Moore, Georgia, gives lower-performing recruits up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help them meet military standards and go on to basic training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot only are the graduation rates very high, but the number of graduates from the program who then are selected for leadership roles when they\u2019re in basic training or who do particularly well in basic is notable,\u201d said Wormuth, adding that 34% of the leadership posts in basic training are filled by soldiers who attended the prep course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe still have six months to go, so I don\u2019t want to be overconfident,\u201d said Wormuth. But recruiting was high in February and March, usually the most difficult months. \u201cNow we\u2019re starting to move into the spring and summer months, which are the traditionally better recruiting months.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Air Force is also upbeat, after making a number of policy changes, relaxing tattoo rules, boosting bonuses and expanding efforts to recruit lawful permanent residents.<\/u><\/a> The service missed its active-duty recruiting mission of more than 26,800 last year by about 3,000 airmen, but has exceeded its goal so far this year. Buoyed by the progress, the Air Force has just increased its active-duty enlistment target for the year to 27,100, a boost of about 1,200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brig. Gen. Christopher Amrhein, who heads the Air Force\u2019s recruiting, said while he\u2019s \u201ccautiously optimistic\u201d about making their goal, \u201cwe cannot take our foot off the gas.\u201d He said the service needs to keep looking at policy changes and other adjustments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Navy leaders, however, say that while they\u2019re doing better than last year, they expect to miss their recruiting goal of about 40,600 by roughly 6,700.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe continue to face challenges in the current and forecasted economic environment and tough labor market,\u201d said Vice Adm. Rick Cheeseman, head of Navy personnel. \u201cThe Navy continues to explore and evaluate new methods for attracting qualified, motivated and capable applicants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n