Army Secretary Dan Driscoll credited the service’s 10,000 or so recruiters for their “colossal efforts” to improve the service’s recruiting wing in recent years and sign up some 10% more young Americans to join the Army so far this year than last year when it achieved its 55,000-recruit target just before the fiscal year’s end in September.
“A full four months ahead of schedule, we crushed the U.S. Army’s FY25 recruiting goals,” Driscoll said in a statement. “I want to thank our hard-working recruiting community and everyone who helped support this important milestone.”
The last time that the Army met its recruiting goal in the first week of June was 2014, said Lt. Col. Jeff Tolbert, a spokesman for Driscoll.
The Army secretary said Tuesday that hitting the goal so early showed the service’s recruiting challenges were “behind us.”
Tolbert said those recruited for the rest of the fiscal year will enter the Army’s Delayed Entry Program, which means they will ship to basic training in fiscal 2026, which starts Oct. 1.
Some 14,000 of the recruits who have shipped to basic training in fiscal 2025 did so after entering the Delayed Entry Program last year, according to the service.
The accomplishment comes as the Army prepares to hold events around the world marking its 250th birthday, including a massive celebration and parade planned for Washington, D.C., on June 14. That event is expected to include an enlistment ceremony for new recruits committing to the service.
The Army — and most of the other military services — have struggled in recent years to meet their recruiting goals, at least in part because of a shrinking pool of eligible candidates.
The Pentagon in recent years has estimated only some 23% of young Americans between the ages of 17 and 24 meet the basic education, fitness and moral criteria to serve. Among those qualified, only about 9% have showed interest in the military in recent years, according to Pentagon data.
Amid its struggles in recent years, the Army has launched new programs to bolster its recruiting apparatus and raised its recruiting commander from a two-star general to a three-star.
It also opened a new pathway to enlistment for Army hopefuls who initially fall short of meeting the service’s enlistment standards via its Future Soldier Prep Course. The program gives those recruits 90 days of academic or fitness instruction by Army drill sergeants to help them meet those basic standards. It has driven thousands of recruits into basic training since 2022, and officials have generally regarded it as successful.
Driscoll on Tuesday sought to paint the recruiting win as a reflection of new policies implemented since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in recent months have continually taken credit for the improved recruiting numbers.
Nonetheless, Pentagon data shows recruiting improvements began months before the November 2024 presidential election.
“I want to thank the commander in chief, President Trump, and Secretary of Defense Hegseth for their decisive leadership and support in equipping, training and supporting these future soldiers as they face a world of global uncertainty and complex threats,” Driscoll said. “Putting soldiers first is having a tangible impact and shows that young people across our country want to be part of the most lethal land fighting force the world has ever seen.”
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