April
14, 2023
After
more than 20 years of losing wars, recruiting for the U.S. Army is now
officially a mess. Last year, that service fell short of its goal by 15,000
recruits, or a quarter of its target. Despite reports of better numbers in the
first months of this year, Army officials doubt they will achieve their
objective this time around either. The commanding general at Fort Jackson, the
South Carolina facility that provides basic training to 50% of all new members
of the Army, called the recruiting command’s task the hardest since the
all-volunteer military was launched in 1973. The Army’s leaders were alarmed
enough to make available up to $1.2 billion for recruitment incentives and
related initiatives.
