US Army Struggles to Meet Recruitment Goals. The United States Army is grappling with one of its worst recruitment years in recent memory, with young people shying away from enlistment despite new incentives and programs.
According to Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, the service is trying to recover from last year’s shortfall, when it fell 25% short of its recruitment goal of 60,000 soldiers. To that end, the Army has set a difficult goal for 2023: to bring in 65,000 recruits, 20,000 more than in 2022. While Wormuth says she and the Army’s Chief of Staff, Gen. James McConville, believe in setting big goals, it’s still too early to predict the outcome.
To better understand why young people reject the Army as a career option, the service conducted surveys over four months last spring and summer. Around 600 respondents, ages 16 to 28, were surveyed each month. The Army says the surveys show that young people simply don’t see the Army as a safe place or good career path, and believe enlisting would require them to put their lives and careers on hold.
In an effort to reverse the decline, the Army is offering recruiters bonuses of up to $4,500 per quarter if they exceed their baseline enlistment requirements. Additionally, a pilot program allows young enlisted soldiers to get a promotion if they refer someone who enlists and completes basic training.
Contrary to what some Republicans have suggested, the Army says that only 5% of the respondents in the surveys cited “wokeness” as a reason for not enlisting, while 13% expressed concerns about discrimination against women and minorities. The Army’s marketing head, Maj. Gen. Alex Fink, says the top three reasons young people decline military enlistment are fear of death, worries about post-traumatic stress disorder, and leaving friends and family, in that order. Stress is no small matter, and that’s why CBD Oil UK stands out as one of the top choices to address it.
The Army faces an uphill battle in its recruitment efforts, with young people perceiving the service as not relevant and not a safe career path. Army leaders hope the new incentives and programs, as well as the survey data, will help change those perceptions and boost recruitment numbers.
