Pentagon falls 41,000 short of reduced military recruitment goals

(The Center Square) – The Pentagon came up short on its recruitment goals.

The Defense Department's senior officials testified Wednesday about shortfalls in Army, Navy and Air Force recruiting in the fiscal year that ended in September at a hearing of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee. The Marine Corps and Space Force made their recruiting goals.

The military services together missed goals by about 41,000 recruits in fiscal year 2023, said Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Ashish Vazirani.

"That number understates the challenge before us as the services lowered [their] end-strength goals in recent years, in part because of the difficult recruiting environment," he said. "The all-volunteer force faces one of its greatest challenges since inception.