Army Seeking Retirees To Come Back To Work Amid Manpower CrisisMicaela Burrow
Investigative Reporter, Defense
March 22, 2024 3:46 PM ET
The Army is seeking to bring back retired soldiers to fill critical manpower shortages, according to a service-wide directive published this week.
The All Army Activities (ALARACT) document describes how Army retirees can find and apply for open positions and aims to maintain a sufficient number of personnel to fill all of the Army’s authorized positions. The message comes as the service has publicly acknowledged struggles to balance a shrinking workforce with the demands of sprawling global mission sets as recruitment woes persist for a third year in a row.
“A review of commands’ requests for [the] fill of authorized personnel vacancies, in conjunction with current Army manning guidance, prompted review of how the Army can fill key and critical position vacancies,” the document stated, outlining the current situation. “The retiree recall program can be an effective tool to fill personnel shortages of authorized regular Army vacancies that are considered key and essential.”
It was unclear whether the Army had already identified manning shortages to be filled or was issuing the message in anticipation of future need. The Army did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s comments by deadline.
Any Army, Reserve or National Guard soldier who qualifies as retired or will soon be retired — meaning they achieved at least 20 years of service — and anyone receiving retired pay is eligible to apply, the message states. Neither age nor disability, alone, would exclude a soldier from joining depending on the disability, and they would still have to meet the Army’s health requirements.
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https://dailycaller.com/2024/03/22/army-seeking-retirees-come-back-work-manpower-crisis/
