The Defense Department's armed services branches recruited 12.5% more people in 2024 than in the year prior despite a difficult and indifferent recruiting market.

Katie Helland Director of Military Accessions Policy Katie Helland speaks to members of the media throughout a panel on fiscal year 2025 recruiting goals at the Pentagon, Oct. 30, 2024. Share: × Share Copy Link Email Facebook X. LinkedIn. WhatsApp

Download: Full Size (235.52 KB). Credit: Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jackie Sanders, DOD. VIRIN: 241030-D-XI929-1004

While speaking at a multiservice panel on 2025 recruiting problems at the Pentagon earlier today, Director employment of Military Accession Policy Katie Helland stated that the services increased the number of employees from 200,000 in FY 2023 to 225,000 in FY 2024, which ended September 30.

Additionally, she said, the services had a 35% increase in composed agreements, and the active components' postponed entry program began FY 2025 with a 10% bigger swimming pool.

" [The Office of the Secretary of Defense] and the services will continue to develop off the momentum that we've gotten in 2024," Helland stated.

" Nevertheless," she continued, "we need to remain very carefully positive about the future recruiting operations as we continue to hire in a market that has low youth tendency to serve, minimal familiarity with military opportunities, a competitive labor market and a declining eligibility among young grownups."

Helland elaborated on those challenges by discussing that, for the very first time considering that the metric has actually been tracked, employment the majority of youths have actually never ever considered the option of serving in the military.

The factors behind that are multifold, Helland said. Young Americans have less ties to buddies or family members who have actually served in the military. There is a decreasing presence of veterans in our society. Approximately 77% of people between the ages of 17 and 24 need some kind of waiver to serve due to any variety of disqualifications.

To counter such difficulties, Helland said the armed force has actually out a medical pilot program that enables recruits to join the armed force without a waiver for various health conditions - offered they satisfy particular requirements. Additionally, there are service member preparation courses that prepare recruits to satisfy the strenuous requirements of military service. Moreover, employment DOD is looking for to reconnect with youth and their influencers by revealing them the worth of serving.

" The next generation of Americans to serve must understand that there has actually never ever been a better time for them to choose military service," Helland said.

Panel Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder assists in a panel on fiscal year 2025 recruiting goals at the Pentagon, Oct. 30, 2024. Share:. ×. Share. Copy Link. Email. Facebook. X. LinkedIn. WhatsApp

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" Youth today look for a bigger purpose in their lives and desire tasks where they have higher participation in decision-making and can produce a direct tangible effect," she continued. "Military service uses all of this."

Explaining that U.S. military service offers more than 250 professions and that it represents one of the most highly educated companies throughout the world and across all pay grades, Helland stated the Defense Department is striving to counter the story that signing up with the military is an alternative to participating in college or "an alternative of last hope."

" We are working to reframe this narrative so that Americans understand that military service is a pathway to higher education and profession opportunities while defending democracy and the flexibilities we love," Helland said.

She included that DOD is reframing this narrative. For instance, the department's Joint Advertising Marketing research and Studies program will quickly release a project to construct familiarity with the American public about the worth of military service. Plans are also proceeding to have adult influencers advocate for military service.