Recruiting, much like in college sports, is the lifeblood of America’s volunteer military force. Military recruiters are encountering more challenges in attracting top talent to serve the country, similar to their counterparts in college sports.
With more opportunities in secondary education and an evolving workforce that does not require a four-year degree, young people have more options than ever before.
The U.S. Army is focusing on transforming how it recruits the next generation of soldiers. On the surface, it appears that the Army’s recruiting efforts are working.
In 2024, Army recruiters exceeded their goal of 55,000 new soldiers by half a percent, including surpassing their target for delayed enlistment recruits by 6,000 new soldiers. However, the number of new soldiers remained largely flat over the last two years, with 54,000 in 2023 falling 11,000 short of their goal of 65,000. Conversely, 11,000 people entered the delayed entry program, well above last year’s number of about 4,600.
Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth stated that these numbers are a direct result of Army leadership emphasizing changes in their recruiting strategies.
“I believe that our success this year shows the promise of what is just around the corner, complete transformation of our recruiting enterprise. There is still work to do to finish this transformation, but the Army, this will not surprise you, is moving out aggressively,” Wormuth said.
Maj. Gen. Johnny Davis, commander of Army recruiting, emphasized the importance of getting quality recruits.
“First and foremost, again, getting the talent right. And we started to see a big change in bringing the right talent of not only leaders, but also recruiters. Let’s assess our recruiters and make sure we select the right recruiters,” Davis said.
Part of the Army’s plan included improving how they train recruiters. The Training with Industry program offers soldiers the chance to work with civilian industry experts within their field to learn the company’s best practices and methodologies.
To kickstart this initiative, the Army partnered with companies like Amazon, Deloitte and Wells Fargo, as well as the University of Louisville to provide a wide range of experiences for recruiters.
Brig. Gen. Antoinette Gant, chief of the Army Enterprise Marketing Office, highlighted the importance of equipping recruiters with the necessary tools.
“It is truly about the recruiter making sure that the recruiter has in his access the things that they need to be able to make sure that they can actually do what they are supposed to be doing, and that is prospecting, prospecting and nurturing the leads, of which they actually receive,” Gant said.
Another avenue of success for the Army is the introduction of a program specifically designed to help potential recruits who have trouble initially qualifying for service.
“For young Americans who had the desire to join the Army but not the test scores, we created the Future Soldier prep course to give them a path to meet our standards,” Wormuth said.
Maj. Gen. Davis added, “A simple course to really invest in them, not just from academic and physical, but hey, let’s invest in them. Show them how you know, camaraderie, how to eat, how to exercise. And what we have seen within two weeks is transformational, and they are going on to really lead our force as they do graduate and go off to basic combat training and to the first units of assignments.”
The initial results are impressive. The Future Soldier Preparatory Course graduated 16,000 students into basic training in 2024. Wormuth noted that today’s high school seniors represent more than 50% of the Army’s annual enlistments, but they represent only 15% to 20% of a larger prospect pool they need to be recruiting.
One avenue to reach this pool was the introduction of the Soldier Referral Program, an incentive for active duty, National Guard or Reserve soldiers to refer new recruits to join their ranks. Less than two years old, the program has already yielded 77,000 referrals and 5,000 new soldiers.
With the success of these initiatives, the secretary announced a new goal during the opening ceremonies of this year’s AUSA Annual Meeting.
“Looking ahead to fiscal year 2025, I am announcing today that General George and I have set a new goal to recruit 61,000 new soldiers, 6,000 more than this year,” Wormuth said.
It is an ambitious goal. The last time the Army reported more than 61,000 new recruits in a year was 2019, when a little more than 68,000 new recruits enlisted.
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