The US Army had a 25% shortfall in failing to meet its target of attracting 60,000 new volunteer recruits in 2021, Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth told an audience at the Center for a New American Security on Friday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th November, 2022) The US Army had a 25% shortfall in failing to meet its target of attracting 60,000 new volunteer recruits in 2021, Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth told an audience at the Center for a New American Security on Friday.
"We recruited 45,000 soldiers last year: Our goal was 60,000," Wormuth said. "That's a pretty serious shortfall."
Wormuth said part of the problem was caused by a tight job market in which jobs in the civilian sector were widely available during the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic measures.
In addition, only 23% of young Americans were even eligible to join the Army because they fell below fitness and intelligence standards due to obesity issues and poor schooling, she said.
Moreover, only 9% of young Americans are interested in joining the military. It has been a pretty major drop" from previous times, Wormuth said.
The Army was looking to rebuild its numbers and had set a relatively ambitious target of 65,000 new troops to be recruited in the coming year, Wormuth added.
