The Senate Armed Services Committee has released a draft policy proposing cuts to military recruiting goals for fiscal year 2024.
The aim is to avoid further lowering standards to compensate for declining enlistment numbers. The committee's draft legislation found that the Department of Defense's requested end strengths were "unattainable" given the current recruiting challenges.
The committee has revised the goals for the Navy and the Air Force. The DOD had requested a goal of 347,000 active-duty personnel for the Navy, but the committee has suggested a revised goal of 342,000. Similarly, instead of 324,700 Air Force troops, the committee has proposed a goal of 320,000.
While the Army has also struggled to meet recruiting targets, the committee has supported the DOD's requested 452,000 active-duty troops, the same goal as for fiscal year 2023. Additionally, the committee has agreed with the DOD's requested end strengths for the Marine Corps, with 172,300 troops, and Space Force, with 9,400.
The draft report states, "This provision would authorize active component end strengths in line with the Department of Defense's requests for the Army, Marine Corps, and Space Force. For the Air Force and the Navy, this provision would authorize slightly lower end strengths than those requested by the Department. The committee has received regular updates from the Department and the military services on end strength projections for fiscal year 2023, as well as the current state of recruiting in all of the military services, and believes the Department's end strength requests for the Air Force and the Navy are unattainable for fiscal year 2024 based on current trends."
The committee emphasizes that it will be a multi-year effort to reverse the downward trend in military recruiting and does not want to encourage the military services to lower recruiting standards in order to attain short-term goals. The report highlights that the DOD's "unreachable" recruiting goals could "encourage quantity over quality."
The committee warns that legislating unreachable end strength numbers would set the military services up for failure, guaranteeing continued recruiting shortfalls, putting undue strain on recruiting forces, and ultimately compromising readiness.
To meet the targets for 2023, the Navy and the Air Force have already made adjustments to their recruiting standards. In February, the Navy implemented a "one-time reset" that removed failed physical fitness tests from prospective sailors' records, allowing them a second chance. The policy aimed to improve retention and attrition to reach end-strength goals.
In April, the Air Force eased body fat requirements for new recruits to encourage more applications. Male prospective troops can now have up to 26% body fat, compared to the previous 20% requirement, while females can have 36%, up from 28%.
The Senate Armed Services Committee's draft policy reflects the recognition that maintaining high recruiting standards is crucial for the long-term readiness and effectiveness of the military. By proposing cuts to recruiting goals, the committee aims to address the challenges posed by declining enlistment numbers without compromising the quality of the armed forces.
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