{"id":76345,"date":"2023-04-10T08:15:27","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T08:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/04\/10\/need-for-accession-waivers-soars-amid-historic-recruiting-challenges\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:50:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:50:04","slug":"need-for-accession-waivers-soars-amid-historic-recruiting-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2023\/04\/10\/need-for-accession-waivers-soars-amid-historic-recruiting-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Need for accession waivers soars amid historic recruiting challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At least 1 in every 6 military recruits were given waivers to enter service in fiscal 2022, the highest percentage in at least 10 years, Military Times has learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in the face of historic recruiting challenges, the military\u2019s recordkeeping is spotty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data provided by the Office of the Secretary of Defense in November 2022 doesn\u2019t match figures provided by the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force in March 2023. The Army refused to provide the information for this story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November, the Pentagon told Military Times that 22,623 recruits with no prior military service had waivers approved in fiscal 2022, out of a total of 130,346 prospective service members. That means around 17% of incoming troops were accepted with caveats for their health, prior misconduct, drug use, dependents or tattoos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s about 6 percentage points higher than the rate in 2013, after the percentage hovered around 12% for much of the past decade, according to Pentagon data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Numbers provided by four of the five armed forces indicated waivers played an even greater role in accessions last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to a Feb. 28 query from Military Times, the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force said they approved 26,881 waivers across nearly 89,600 active duty recruits \u2014 about 30% of the incoming force. (Some recruits need multiple waivers.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s nearly 4,000 more waivers overall than were reported by the Pentagon, not including the Army, the largest military service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four months after the Pentagon provided waiver data to Military Times, DoD spokesperson Maj. Charlie Dietz told Military Times to disregard the numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe department doesn\u2019t track the waivers, as that is for the services to do,\u201d he said. \u201cEach service has the final waiver approval authority and, as such, sets the standard for that service regarding types of waivers that will be considered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army declined to provide a response by press time, after shuffling the query between multiple offices for weeks and repeatedly asking Military Times to file a Freedom of Information Act request \u2014 which the service\u2019s own regulations discourage it from doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As waivers are increasingly relied upon to help the military meet its annual recruiting goals, the Pentagon still isn\u2019t sure how many potential enlistees that process may be leaving on the table. The Defense Department doesn\u2019t know how many people appeal their waiver decisions, or how many people drop out of consideration because their case is overly complicated or taking too long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That lack of insight further complicates the transition to MHS Genesis, the military\u2019s new electronic health record system that was implemented across the recruiting enterprise in 2022. Rather than rely on recruits to recall the details of their medical histories and past prescriptions, Genesis compiles that information on its own. But that\u2019s led to more waivers for a larger number of health issues that previously could have gone unnoticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s where accession waivers for new active duty recruits stood across the Department of Defense in fiscal 2022:<\/p>\n\n\n\n