Monday, January 13, 2025

Early Momentum: Army Hits 30k Recruits, Half Its 2025 Goal

The Army is already nearly halfway to meeting its ambitious goal of recruiting 61,000 active-duty soldiers during this fiscal year, according to internal data reviewed by Military.com. The service has 30,000 new enlistments this year -- an increase of 6,000 compared to the same period last year, the data shows.

Posted by LampLighter at 03:33 PM | 54 COMMENTS | permalink

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Women have proven essential in modern combat roles, strengthening America's military at every level. Pete Hegseth, Trump's Defense pick, is waging a baseless culture war that threatens recruitment, retention, morale, and the very strength of our Armed Forces at a time when we can least afford it.

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-- VoteVets (@votevets.bsky.social) January 10, 2025 at 12:00 PM

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More from the article ...

... The milestone comes as the service continues to grapple with a historic recruitment crisis, the worst since the Vietnam War, underscoring the uphill battle to convince young Americans to don the uniform.

The promising year in recruiting also gives the incoming Trump administration enormous momentum as recruiting woes have been among the top issues at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill.

President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, has pledged to make recruitment a top priority, often citing cultural and political grievances as the root of the military's recent difficulties, but with no evidence to support those claims.

Instead, the Army's struggles have mostly been attributed to young Americans not qualifying for service, either failing to meet body fat or academic standards. In 2022, the Army stood up the Future Soldier Preparatory Courses, training camps for applicants to get up to snuff with those standards.

Nearly one-quarter of the 55,000 soldiers recruited last year went through one of those courses and would have otherwise not been able to serve. That allowed the Army to meet its recruiting goals in 2024 after missing its enlistment goals since 2022. ...


#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-01-12 10:46 PM

In 15 years, to be serving on a police force near you.

Patriotism? Jobs program and benefits? Betting on the latter.

Later claiming you're a patriot: priceless.

#2 | Posted by Dbt2 at 2025-01-13 01:07 AM

Wait until Trump's economy takes over. Recruitment will spike as there's nothing else to do for people already in economically depressed (mostly rural) areas.

#3 | Posted by jpw at 2025-01-13 11:09 AM

I'm not certain why people wouldn't be required to join, like they do in Israel.

With all of the good jobs reserved for H1-B's there are plenty of underemployed and under-educated for leadership to secretly dispose of in foreign conflicts.

#4 | Posted by redlightrobot at 2025-01-13 02:29 PM

Anyone signing up to serve under trump deserves exactly what they're going to get.

#5 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2025-01-13 03:46 PM

Wow! So many Americans signing up for what may soon be an extension of the Russian army...

#6 | Posted by Whatsleft at 2025-01-13 05:45 PM

That's a lot of suckers and losers.

~ the demented orange pedo ~

#7 | Posted by Reinheitsgebot at 2025-01-14 12:28 AM

There's usually more to the story.

I wonder how many, themselves anchor babies, who are trying to avoid deportation after Trump changes their citizenship status.

We're not at war so there must be another reason for this unusual spike in recruits.

#8 | Posted by Twinpac at 2025-01-14 12:50 AM

there must be another reason for this unusual spike in recruits.

The want to go to North Carolina to help shoot the liberal zombies escaping the failing cities.

#9 | Posted by REDIAL at 2025-01-14 01:07 AM

REDIAL

T take it that reply was meant for only one specific poster on this site.

#10 | Posted by Twinpac at 2025-01-14 03:01 AM

Biden is on his way out. Morale is up.

#11 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-01-14 10:36 AM

When Vlad puts bounties on these soldiers the orange pedo will respond by hitting the links.

#12 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2025-01-14 10:40 AM

"That's a lot of suckers and losers."

Trumpy's gonna need all that cannon fodder to expand the Empire.

#13 | Posted by donnerboy at 2025-01-14 12:32 PM

Biden is on his way out. Morale is up.

#11 | Posted by BellRinger

Morale is up anywhere there is a high concentration of morons who never learned about fascism in school.

#14 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2025-01-14 01:00 PM

" fascism ...

#14 | POSTED BY SPEAKSOFTLY AT 2025-01-14 01:00 PM | FLAG: "

*drink*

#15 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-01-14 02:35 PM

" fascism ...

#14 | POSTED BY SPEAKSOFTLY AT 2025-01-14 01:00 PM | FLAG: "

*drink*

#15 | Posted by BellRinger

Yes we know you're tired of hearing the words FASCISM, CULT, RUSSIA, and COUP.

Because you can't refute any of them.

#16 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2025-01-14 02:38 PM

You don't know what those words actually mean and you refuse to learn.

#17 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-01-14 02:55 PM

Biden is on his way out. Morale is up.

#11 | Posted by BellRinger a

regardless of responses from illiterate bigots........you're right and the includes the following......

the volunteers also know they won't have to depend on the guy next to them in a fight that wears a dress

on the weekends and has a hissy fit if you use the "wrong" pronoun...

#18 | Posted by shrimptacodan at 2025-01-14 02:56 PM

They troops now have to worry about being called suckers and losers by Putin's --- dumpster.

#19 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2025-01-14 02:59 PM

You don't know what those words actually mean and you refuse to learn.

#17 | Posted by BellRinger

I don't know what RUSSIA means?

That's the best comeback you have? Come on. Defend being in a fascist cult run by a russian puppet who attempted a coup. Tell us how its better than a guy being on a girls basketball team.

#20 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2025-01-14 03:00 PM

the volunteers also know they won't have to depend on the guy next to them in a fight that wears a dress

#18 | Posted by shrimptacodan

Yeah that's so much worse than having your boss be a psycho con man who works for putin.

#21 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2025-01-14 03:04 PM

Hegseth just lied in his hearing, to say that recruitment is struggling.

#22 | Posted by Whatsleft at 2025-01-14 03:24 PM

" Hegseth just lied in his hearing, to say that recruitment is struggling.

#22 | POSTED BY WHATSLEFT AT 2025-01-14 03:24 PM | FLAG: "

It's off to a good start in 2025 but for the past few years we've fallen well short of recruitment goals.

#23 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-01-14 03:26 PM

#23

You should enlist. Perhaps you can fight with the Russians.

#24 | Posted by Whatsleft at 2025-01-14 03:51 PM

#23

Curious... Since you always act like you're a budget hawk, should the size of the military spending be reduced? Or Like a good GOPer, do you think military spending is untouchable?

#25 | Posted by Whatsleft at 2025-01-14 03:55 PM

#-25. Want is your problem?

#26 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-01-14 04:12 PM

Trump didn't think military spending was untouchable when he tried to snatch a few billion to build his wall.

Security for the troops be damned.

#27 | Posted by Twinpac at 2025-01-14 07:37 PM

No American with any sense would ever enlist with a fool like Biden or Harris potentially in charge. Look what they did in Afghanistan. Democrats are now well known as an obvious nightmare in government and as ignorant fools without sense.

#28 | Posted by Robson at 2025-01-14 07:52 PM

Look what they did in Afghanistan.

#28 | Posted by Robson

Ended the war that trump didn't have the balls to end? Despite his promises to?

#29 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2025-01-14 07:56 PM

Enlistment is likely up BECAUSE biden ended the war. Who wants to sign up to go die in that mess?

#30 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2025-01-14 08:01 PM

More from the article...

... The early recruiting milestone this month, first reported by Military.com, is largely attributed to the service's delayed-entry program, which consists of 11,000 recruits, about double the numbers from recent years.

That pool consists of young Americans who volunteered to serve last year but were delayed being shipped to basic training until this year, which is when they're formally counted in the recruiting numbers.

One reason the delayed-entry pool is so large is that the service has effectively run out of space to conduct basic training, giving up some of that real estate to the Future Soldier Preparatory Courses. ...


#31 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-01-14 08:15 PM

More from the article ...

... The service has faced persistent delays in medically processing recruits, prompting officials to bring in additional staff and adopt a more lenient approach to minor medical histories unlikely to affect military performance.

Recruiters have long complained about enlistment delays -- sometimes lasting months -- for minor injuries or conditions that applicants have already recovered from. As those delays continue, potential recruits are more and more likely to walk away.

The Army has also embraced new strategies to entice recruits, including allowing them to choose their initial duty station. Popular picks include Fort Cavazos in Texas, Fort Carson in Colorado, and Fort Campbell in Kentucky, which have drawn roughly 800 recruits each this year.

Those bases offer more job opportunities and proximity to recruits' hometowns, making them attractive choices. Fort Campbell, for example, is a prominent base for recruits from the Midwest, while Texas remains a recruitment powerhouse for the Army. ...


So the Army seems to be changing its recruitment policies, and that resulted in more recruits?

#32 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-01-14 08:17 PM

@#28 ... Look what they did in Afghanistan. ...

What did "they" do in Afghanistan?

At the time, fmr Pres Trump had already signed off on the plan to abandon Afghanistan, a plan that also agreed to the release of the Taliban prisoners held.

Timeline of U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan
www.factcheck.org

... The blame game has begun over who lost Afghanistan.

The fact is, President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, were both eager to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan and end what Biden referred to in his Aug. 16 speech as "America's longest war."

The Trump administration in February 2020 negotiated a withdrawal agreement with the Taliban that excluded the Afghan government, freed 5,000 imprisoned Taliban soldiers and set a date certain of May 1, 2021, for the final withdrawal.

And the Trump administration kept to the pact, reducing U.S. troop levels from about 13,000 to 2,500, even though the Taliban continued to attack Afghan government forces and welcomed al-Qaeda terrorists into the Taliban leadership. ...


So, Pres Biden was subject to the deal that then fmr Pres Trump negotiated (surrendered?)?

What doesn't MAGA now seem to want to not want to spin this as A Good Thing for the firs Trump admin? Maybe, saying MAGA dumped a steaming pasture pastry upon the incoming Biden administration?


#33 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-01-14 08:26 PM

" Enlistment is likely up BECAUSE biden ended the war"

The war ended in 2021. Recruitment for the following 3 years was well below stated goals. That therory doesn't fly.

#34 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-01-14 08:30 PM

" So, Pres Biden was subject to the deal that then fmr Pres Trump negotiated (surrendered?)?"

If he hadn't rescinded almost all of Trump's executive actions your attempt at deflection and blame shifting might fly. The disastrous handling of the withdrawal is 100% on Biden admin.

#35 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-01-14 08:33 PM

Trump effect.

They also probably know they won't be going to war.

" So, Pres Biden was subject to the deal that then fmr Pres Trump negotiated (surrendered?)?"

How Biden went his own way on Afghanistan withdrawal
www.cnn.com

So willing to take credit if it went well, but if it didn't ... its Trumps fault.

Lumpers.... LOL

#36 | Posted by oneironaut at 2025-01-14 08:44 PM

So the Army seems to be changing its recruitment policies, and that resulted in more recruits?

You think 18yos are paying attention to Army recruiting policies?

#37 | Posted by oneironaut at 2025-01-14 08:45 PM

@#35 ... If he hadn't rescinded almost all of Trump's executive actions ...

What do executive actions have to do with the agreement that then Pres Trump signed?

Specifically, which executive action put into place by the incoming Biden admin negated the agreement then Pres Trump agreed to?



#38 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-01-14 08:52 PM

@#36 ... How Biden went his own way on Afghanistan withdrawal ...

Yeah, that was just Pres Biden trying to comply with the agreement then fmr-Pres Trump left him with.

So, your current alias seems to implicitly agree that the agreement then fmr-Pres Trump committed the US to was not a good one.

And now seems to be trying to blame Pres Biden for then fmr-Pres Trump's agreement?

From @33 ...

... The Trump administration in February 2020 negotiated a withdrawal agreement with the Taliban that excluded the Afghan government, freed 5,000 imprisoned Taliban soldiers and set a date certain of May 1, 2021, for the final withdrawal. ...




#39 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-01-14 08:58 PM

If he hadn't rescinded almost all of Trump's executive actions your attempt at deflection and blame shifting might fly. The disastrous handling of the withdrawal is 100% on Biden admin.

Posted by BellRinger at 2025-01-14 08:33 PM | Reply

It's the same tired assed tripe you used on Obama for his pullout of Iraq. The previous administration signed the agreement. Biden just carried it out. That's the truth of the matter Jeff. SSDD with you.

#40 | Posted by LauraMohr at 2025-01-14 09:01 PM

" It's the same tired assed tripe you used on Obama for his pullout of Iraq"

Obama didn't disastrously botch the way it was carried out. It's not that he withdrew that's the issue. HOW it was handled is why he rightly gets slaughtered for it.

#41 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-01-14 09:08 PM

" Specifically, which executive action put into place by the incoming Biden admin negated the agreement then Pres Trump agreed to?"

Biden Repealing 5 Trump Executive Orders Marks New Day of Hope for Feds

www.afge.org

Your current alias really should stop the passive aggressiveness.

#42 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-01-14 09:11 PM

If he hadn't rescinded almost all of Trump's executive actions

Lewzer quotes:

"Why Is @BarackObama constantly issuing executive orders that are major power grabs of authority?"

"The country wasn't based on executive orders,"

"Right now, Obama goes around signing executive orders. He can't even get along with the Democrats, and he goes around signing all these executive orders. It's a basic disaster. You can't do it."

#43 | Posted by REDIAL at 2025-01-14 09:21 PM

@#42 ... Biden Repealing 5 Trump Executive Orders Marks New Day of Hope for Feds ...

Yeah, which of those executive orders counters the Trump agreement for withdrawal in Afghanistan?


#44 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-01-14 09:31 PM

#44 I had no problem with the timing of the withdrawal. The terrible execution of the withdrawal is 100% on the Biden admin.

Like I said, your current alias really should drop the passive aggressiveness

#45 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-01-14 09:35 PM

@#43 ... "Why Is @BarackObama constantly issuing executive orders that are major power grabs of authority?" ..

Thanks for raising that.

I found ...

Trump outstripping Obama on pace of executive orders (2019)
apnews.com

... It wasn't too long ago that Donald Trump derided presidential executive orders as "power grabs" and a "basic disaster." ...


I've saved that URL. I suspect we will be it frequently come January 20, 2025.


thx.



#46 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-01-14 09:35 PM

@#45 .. The terrible execution of the withdrawal is 100% on the Biden admin. ...

That, what your current alias calls, terrible execution, what confined by the agreement that then fmr-Pres Trump agreed to.

Releasing Taliban prisoners?

That's a weak position that then Pres Trump agreed to.

That release did not help, in any shape manner or form, the withdrawal. indeed, that release may have helped to make any withdrawal more difficult.

Did then fmr-Pres Trump intentionally try to make the Afghan withdrawal more difficult for Pres Biden?


#47 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-01-14 09:42 PM

I've saved that URL. I suspect we will be it frequently come January 20, 2025.

Fear not. I plan to post those quotes on every thread that comes up about Lewzer's upcoming record breaking number of executive orders.

#48 | Posted by REDIAL at 2025-01-14 09:42 PM

Biden is on his way out. Morale is up.

#11 | Posted by BellRinger

You're an idiot.

#49 | Posted by jpw at 2025-01-15 09:20 AM

You don't know what those words actually mean and you refuse to learn.

#17 | Posted by BellRinger

Says the moron who thinks making threats of bodily harm and death is "speaking out."

You're not a serious person.

#50 | Posted by jpw at 2025-01-15 09:22 AM

The war ended in 2021. Recruitment for the following 3 years was well below stated goals. That therory doesn't fly.

#34 | Posted by BellRinger

This isn't hard.

Despite what people like Boaz tell you, people join because they need the steady income and benefits. It's not because they're red, white and blue eyed 'Murica! loving Captain Americas. Expect enlistment to increase as the Trump economy is thrust upon us.

#51 | Posted by jpw at 2025-01-15 09:26 AM

Bellringer is no TT or LYD JpW_Holiday.

#52 | Posted by gracieamazed at 2025-01-15 10:04 AM

Trump effect.

They also probably know they won't be going to war.

#36 | Posted by oneironaut

Not against russia since putin owns trump. But they should know they're far more likely to be ordered to attack fellow americans.

#53 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2025-01-15 01:16 PM

Let's not forget how that fat orange grifting daughter lusting treasonous pig was dealing behind the back of the democratically elected Afghani government to make peace with the effing Taliban. You know, the Taliban, those guys that killed 50,000 Afghani soldiers and hundreds of Western soldiers in their quest to return that country back to the 12th Century which that traitor enabled in his 'peace deal? That orange pig felon aka King MAGA also betrayed US Special Forces and their Kurdish democratic allies that had lost some 50,000 men and women soldiers defeating ISIS in Iraq and most of Syria. I see a theme with this pumpkin colored bastard.

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