{"id":47535,"date":"2023-04-19T21:38:46","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T21:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2023\/04\/19\/army-navy-and-air-force-predict-recruiting-shortfalls-this-year\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:16:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:16:38","slug":"army-navy-and-air-force-predict-recruiting-shortfalls-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2023\/04\/19\/army-navy-and-air-force-predict-recruiting-shortfalls-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Army, Navy and Air Force predict recruiting shortfalls this year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Army, Navy and Air Force are preparing to miss their recruiting goals by thousands this year, service leaders said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army is projecting the largest shortfall of all, <\/b>as it did last year, <\/b>proving to be the bellwether for recruiting crunches across the armed services, at a time when the Defense Department is trying to grow its overall ranks<\/a> by about 12,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Marine Corps will meet its fiscal 2023 goal of 29,000 new Marines, Assistant Commandant Gen. Eric Smith told the House Armed Services Committee, while Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David Thompson told the panel his service\u2019s recruiting challenges will depend entirely on what happens with the other services. The Space Force depends on the other military branches to transfer experienced officers and enlisted troops to grow as a new service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile we\u2019re doing very well in recruiting off the street, as the other services have challenges in their recruiting<\/a>, it becomes more difficult for them to release folks for interservice transfer,\u201d Thompson said of the Space Force\u2019s goal to bring in 700 personnel from the other branches, in addition to 700 new recruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army, with roughly five months left to meet its FY23 goal, is projecting to bring in about 55,000 active duty soldiers, well short of its 65,000 target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight now we\u2019re doing better than we were doing,\u201d Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George told lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That goal is higher than last year\u2019s, George added, when the service ended up 15,000 short<\/a> of its 60,000 goal for FY22, sparking a rash of national headlines about the military\u2019s struggle to bring in an ever-shrinking pool of young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\t