{"id":25446,"date":"2019-07-29T19:43:29","date_gmt":"2019-07-29T19:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/29\/the-army-needs-thousands-more-infantrymen-by-spring\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:39:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:39:41","slug":"the-army-needs-thousands-more-infantrymen-by-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/07\/29\/the-army-needs-thousands-more-infantrymen-by-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"The Army needs thousands more infantrymen by spring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story has been updated from the original version published Monday to show that the amount of selective retention bonuses for infantry tops out at $41,000, according to Human Resources Command, not $72,000, a number originally provided to Army Times. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army was short more than 5,000 junior enlisted infantrymen<\/a>, with the military occupational specialty manned at roughly 79 percent of its goal earlier this quarter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In numbers obtained by Army Times, the service\u2019s authorized strength for E-1 through E-4 active-duty infantrymen, coded as 11B, stood at 24,893. But the service only had 19,820 junior enlisted infantrymen, according to official fourth quarter numbers dated July 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indirect fire infantrymen, coded as 11C, were doing a fair bit better, with 2,706 E-1 through E-4 soldiers manning the career field out of the 3,050 troops for which the Army is authorized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to close the gap, the service began offering massive enlistment bonuses topping out at $40,000 for new recruits<\/a> and up to $41,000 for soldiers who reclassify, said Lt. Col. Mary Ricks, an official with Army Human Resources Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal is to increase the 11B and 11C MOS strengths to 100 percent by spring of 2020, and the service said it has already made progress to that end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/b>There have been instances in the past when we have not met the targeted recruiting goals for various military occupational specialties,\u201d Ricks said. \u201cHowever, given the current incentives being offered through the recruiting, retention and reclassification bonuses, we expect to meet and maintain our current and future requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The numbers obtained by Army Times note that the 90-day projection for the 11B MOS was still only expected to hit 83.5 percent of the Army\u2019s authorized manning levels. But Ricks said that shouldn\u2019t be an issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Army will have enough recruits to fill the available training seats for new infantry soldiers through the end of September,” she said. “Those recruits who weren\u2019t selected for training during [fiscal year 2019], due to a lack of classroom seats, will fulfill their training requirements starting in October. Soldiers must be trained before they can be assigned to a unit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Army guidance pushes its leaders to maintain 100 percent of authorized strength across all brigade combat teams, a baseline from which the service currently falls short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But reaching 100 percent manning for the infantry career fields by spring 2020 is very attainable, according to retired Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas R. Brooks, a former Army field recruiter and station commander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn fact, they\u2019ll probably exceed it,\u201d he told Army Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\t