WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Defense Department has announced that in fiscal year 2025, the military's recruiting efforts returned to levels not seen in more than a decade.
'Since November 2024, our military has seen its highest recruiting percentage of mission achieved in more than 15 years,' said Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell.
This fiscal year, all active-duty services made mission. Most reserve components also met their mission goals, with the exception of the Army Reserve, which met 75 percent of its goal, he said in a press release.
Parnell provided a breaks down of how the active-duty components of each branch met their goals.
The Army had a goal of 61,000 recruits and attained 62,050, totaling 101.72 percent of its goal. The Navy had a goal of 40,600 recruits and attained 44,096, totaling 108.61 percent of its goal. The Air Force had a goal of 30,100 recruits and attained 30,166, totaling 100.22 percent of its goal. The Space Force had a goal of 796 recruits and attained 819, totaling 102.89 percent of its goal. The Marine Corps had a goal of 26,600 recruits and attained 26,600, totaling 100 percent of its goal.
Department leaders noted several factors that contributed to the strong recruitment numbers.
'In 2025, the department exceeded our annual active-duty recruitment accession goals across all five services. ... Why? Because we have a commander in chief and a secretary of war who are focused on our troops and our mission, and on ensuring that we remain the most lethal fighting force on the planet,' Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Anthony J. Tata said during a speech at a defense forum earlier this month.
'Our nation's young people are responding,' he added.
Parnell also noted that leadership was a major factor in this year's recruiting results.
'If you look at the data from November, from the election of President Trump and then Secretary Hegseth's confirmation thereafter, the numbers that we've seen during that time period have been historic.'
Tata and Parnell co-chair the department's Recruitment Task Force.
Beyond the quality of leadership in recruitment, driving up numbers, the services have instituted practical improvements that are supporting recruiting gains. These changes include courses that help improve overall aptitude among recruits and enhanced medical screening processes.
Regarding the current fiscal year, the department's recruiting efforts are already off to a strong and promising start, with the department having met nearly 40% of its delayed entry program accession mission at the start of fiscal year 2026.
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