PAPER: RECRUITING CRISIS IS NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT
Recruiting
Photo by: U.S. Army
Tue, 01/23/2024 - 07:33
The Army’s recruiting crisis, the most substantial since the creation of the all-volunteer force 50 years ago, is a threat to U.S. national security and will require a “whole-of-nation effort” to be reversed, according to the authors of a new paper published by the Association of the U.S. Army.
The Army has seen significant recruiting shortfalls for at least the past two years. In fiscal 2022, the service missed by 15,000 its goal of recruiting 60,000 new soldiers. In fiscal 2023, with an ambitious goal of recruiting 65,000 new soldiers, the Army fell short by 10,000. The current Regular Army end strength of 452,000 is “the smallest since before World War II,” the authors write.
Army senior leaders are considering significant reductions to force structure to avoid a “hollow” Army with undermanned and ineffective formations, the authors write.
In “ ’Be All You Can Be’—The U.S. Army’s Recruiting Transformation,” authors Lt. Col. Frank Dolberry, a former AUSA Army fellow, and Charles McEnany, an AUSA national security analyst, assert that because war is “fundamentally a clash of human wills,” the quality of the American soldier is critical to the nation’s ability to fight and win wars.
https://www.ausa.org/news/paper-recruiting-crisis-national-security-threat
