Pentagon Issues Warning on Shrinking Military Numbers
The U.S. Department of Defense is facing a tough challenge as it enters the new year with its smallest fighting force since before World War II. According to Pentagon officials, military recruitment has been struggling and this has been reflected in the country's decreasing number of active-duty troops.
During a House Armed Services Committee meeting on Wednesday, Ashish Vazirani, the Pentagon’s acting undersecretary for personnel and readiness, revealed that the Army, Navy, and Air Force missed their 2023 recruitment goals by a combined 41,000 personnel. This has resulted in the annual defense authorization bill stating that the active-duty troops will drop to 1,284,500 in fiscal 2024, the lowest it has been since 1940.
Vazirani emphasized that this number does not accurately capture the full extent of the challenge they are facing as the services have already lowered their end-strength goals in recent years due to the difficult recruiting environment. He stated that military recruitment is currently facing one of its greatest challenges since the draft ended in 1973.
And the Democrats & corporate legacy media wonder why recruitment is at an all time low in all branches of the military. pic.twitter.com/xCFhnnU0Bi
— Ebon Geist (@ebon_geist) December 17, 2023
Sen. Roger Wicker, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, expressed his concern about the decreasing military numbers, stating that the U.S. needs a larger force in every branch. However, the reality of recruitment is what is driving the numbers, not what is actually needed.
In an effort to boost recruitment numbers, some branches of the armed forces have taken extreme measures. For instance, the Navy made Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, an active-duty sailor and drag queen, one of five Navy Digital Ambassadors in a pilot recruitment program earlier this year. The Air Force has also relaxed its weight standards in the hopes of attracting more recruits.
However, these strategies have not yielded the desired results. The Navy and Air Force are both expected to be down thousands of personnel from their 2021 numbers. The Army, which is facing the biggest recruitment problem among the branches, is down over 40,000 troops in the last three years. Even the Marine Corps, which met its most recent recruitment goal, is still expected to have roughly 9,000 fewer active-duty service members compared to fiscal year 2021.
To address these challenges, the Pentagon is looking to change its approach by developing a message that will resonate with young Americans. According to Vazirani, they need to reach today's youth where they are and motivate them to consider military service by highlighting the opportunities it offers.