US Army shrinks to smallest size since WW2: Reports
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As early as February, the Pentagon admitted to difficulties in recruiting new people to the US Army.
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U.S. Army recruiting efforts are seen April 14, 2023, at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, California (US Department of Defense)
According to Newsweek, the United States Army size is apparently the lowest it has been since World War II, as the service struggles to attract new recruits.
As early as February, the Pentagon admitted to difficulties in recruiting new people to the US Army.
The army declared on Tuesday that it has recruited about 55,000 soldiers in the fiscal year 2023, which ended on Saturday, falling short of the publicly declared objective of 65,000. The amount of new recruits enables the army to satisfy its entire strength requirement of 452,000 active-duty troops.
According to the independent news organization Military Times, this is the Army's smallest size since 1940. According to the National WWII Museum's website, there were little over 269,000 troops in 1940, but that number grew to almost 1.5 million in 1941, the year the United States entered World War II.
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Army Secretary Christine Wormuth and Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said on Tuesday that the military is starting a massive revamp of its recruiting after falling nearly 15,000 shy of its recruiting goal last year.
In November 2022, the secretary added that only 23% of young Americans were deemed fit enough to join the Army because the remaining fell below fitness and intelligence standards due to obesity issues and poor schooling.
Furthermore, only 9% of young Americans showed interest in joining the army.
According to the Heritage Foundation's 2023 Index of US Military Strength, the US military is currently "weak" and "at growing risk of not being able to meet the demands of defending America's vital national interests," which should be heavily alarming for Washington, as it is showing dwindling military strength, down from "marginal" in 2021.
Read more: Confidence in US military at 60%, lowest since 1997
'Professional army' of recruiters to be assigned for recruitment efforts
Instead of utilizing troops who were arbitrarily assigned to the duty, a new professional army of recruiters will be developed.
During a briefing, Wormuth explained that in a "multi-year journey" the army would implement aptitude tests in order to bring into the recruiting workforce the kind of skills and attributes to be successful in what is a "pretty challenging responsibility."
Wormuth added that she wants one-third of Army recruits to have more than a high school education by 2028. Currently, one-fifth of recruits have a higher degree than a high school diploma.
The army secretary expressed that although the high-school market is still crucial, recruiters will be formally assigned to recruit a third of their new contracts from "more than high-school graduates."
The army has not set a recruitment goal, and Wormuth divulged it will most likely be less than 65,000 recruits.
One key factor deterring young people from enlisting in the army is the mental health issues reported by active-duty service members in recent years. According to the Pentagon, suicide rates among active-duty service members increased by 40% from 2015 to 2020.
Due to the failure to reach its recruitment target, the #US military tried something different, enlisting students into their J.R.O.T.C. military program without their permission. pic.twitter.com/f4OgW4gpO7
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) December 17, 2022
