FY25 Sees Best Recruiting Numbers in 15 Years

In fiscal year 2025, the military’s recruiting efforts returned to levels not seen in more than a decade. 

“Since November 2024, our military has seen its highest recruiting percentage of mission achieved in more than 15 years,” stated Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell. 

This fiscal year, all active-duty services made mission. Most reserve components also met their mission goals, with the exception of the Army Reserve, which met 75% of its goal. 

How the active-duty components of each branch met their goals breaks down as follows: 

• The Army had a goal of 61,000 recruits and attained 62,050, totaling 101.72% of its goal. 
• The Navy had a goal of 40,600 recruits and attained 44,096, totaling 108.61% of its goal. 
• The Air Force had a goal of 30,100 recruits and attained 30,166, totaling 100.22% of its goal. 
• The Space Force had a goal of 796 recruits and attained 819, totaling 102.89% of its goal. 
• The Marine Corps had a goal of 26,600 recruits and attained 26,600, totaling 100% of its goal. 

All told, the five service branches collectively accomplished their mission with an average completion rate of 103%. 

Department leaders noted several factors that contributed to the strong recruitment numbers.  

“In 2025, the department exceeded our annual active-duty recruitment accession goals across all five services. … Why? Because we have a commander in chief and a secretary of war who are focused on our troops and our mission, and on ensuring that we remain the most lethal fighting force on the planet,” Undersecretary of War for Personnel and Readiness Anthony J. Tata said during a speech at a defense forum earlier this month.  

“Our nation’s young people are responding,” he added. 

Parnell also noted that leadership was a major factor in this year’s recruiting results.  

“If you look at the data from November, from the election of President Trump and then Secretary Hegseth’s confirmation thereafter, the numbers that we’ve seen during that time period have been historic.” 

Tata and Parnell co-chair the department’s Recruitment Task Force. 

Beyond the quality of leadership in recruitment, driving up numbers, the services have instituted practical improvements that are supporting recruiting gains. These changes include courses that help improve overall aptitude among recruits and enhanced medical screening processes.  

As an example of the latter, a medical records accession pilot program has significantly cut down on waiting times from when a recruit’s initial paperwork is submitted to when they are allowed to be taken in by their local Military Entrance Processing Station. 

As little as a year ago, it could take up to 10 days between when a recruiter submits a recruit’s initial accession paperwork and when that individual could find out if they have been cleared. Today, it takes one day or less. The new focus on speed helps avoid potential recruits from losing interest in serving.  

Regarding the current fiscal year, the department’s recruiting efforts are already off to a strong and promising start, with the department having met nearly 40% of its delayed entry program accession mission at the start of fiscal year 2026.

“This is a historic figure and a testament to our support from the president and the secretary, as well as the great work being done by each of the services,” said Tata. “The department is on track to once again meet our recruiting mission.” 

There are always challenges in recruiting, with recruiters continuously working to increase interest among the youth market and medical disqualifiers plaguing the potential recruiting pool among them. 

To address some of these, the department is working to counter any pervasive misconceptions among the youth market about what it means to serve by highlighting the benefits of wearing the country’s cloth. 

“Recruiting is a no-fail mission,” Tata said. “We will continue to maintain focus on sustaining our momentum, meeting our targets and securing the warriors we need to achieve peace through strength.”