Updated January 28, 2021
Defense Primer: Active Duty Enlisted Recruiting
Congressional Role

The Constitution provides Congress with broad powers
over the Armed Forces, including the power “To raise and
Quantity Goals
support Armies” and “To provide and maintain a Navy.” In
Quantity goals are typically based on each Service’s
the exercise of this authority, Congress has historically
projected need for new personnel (both officer and enlisted)
shown great interest in military recruiting, which is critical
over the course of the year to meet its congressionally
to maintaining a fully manned and capable military
authorized end-strength. Enlisted quantity goals are based
workforce. Congress exercises a powerful influence on
on the proportion of congressionally authorized end-
recruiting through its establishment of personnel end-
strength that a specific Service and Component allocates to
strength levels for the Active Components and Reserve
its enlisted force, less the projected number of currently
Components. Higher end-strengths generally require a
serving enlisted personnel it expects to retain through the
greater number of new recruits, higher rates of retention
end of the year. As a hypothetical example, assume a
among current servicemembers, or some combination of the
Service has an authorized Active Component end-strength
two. Through its oversight powers, Congress monitors the
of 200,000 total personnel, comprised of 30,000 officers
performance of the executive branch in managing the size
and 170,000 enlisted personnel. If it projects that it will
and quality of the military workforce.
retain 140,000 of its current enlisted personnel through the
end of the fiscal year, it might set a goal of enlisting 30,000
Congress influences the achievement of recruiting goals by
new individuals for that year plus a certain number more to
the services in a number of ways:
account for those new enlistees who are separated before
the end of the year (for example, for medical disability).
 authorizing military compensation packages that are
The actual number of new enlistees needed may also
competitive with civilian employers (e.g., basic pay,
change during the year as new projections are made about
recruiting bonuses, educational and health care
the retention of currently serving enlisted personnel, or if
benefits);
the Service must increase or decrease the total size of its
force (for example, if a Service Secretary were to exercise
 establishing criteria that affect eligibility for enlistment
the authority of 10 U.S.C. 115(g)(1)(A) to increase
such as age, cognitive, behavioral, and citizenship
congressionally authorized active duty end-strength for that
requirements; and
Service by up to 2%).
 funding recruiting programs that provide for dedicated
Table 1 lists recruit quantity goals and results for FY2018-
recruiters, market research, advertising, and military
FY2020.
entrance processing stations.
Quality Goals
The policy levers most commonly used to manage
Quality goals are only for new enlistees without any
recruiting include varying the number of recruiters, funding
previous military service, also known as non-prior service
for advertising, and funding for enlistment incentives.
(NPS) recruits.
When recruiting shortfalls occur, or are anticipated,
Congress may elect to apply additional resources to these
Two principal Department of Defense (DOD) quality
mechanisms. Likewise, when recruiting is expected to be
benchmarks apply to NPS recruits. The first quality
strong, Congress may elect to shift resources away from
benchmark is the percentage of NPS enlistees who are high
these areas.
school diploma graduates (HSDG). The second quality
benchmark is the percentage of scores above average on the
Recruiting
Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT Categories I-
Without a robust ability to bring new personnel into the
IIIA). Since FY1993, the DOD’s quality benchmarks for
military, the Services would lack sufficient manpower to
recruit quality have stipulated that at least 90% of NPS
carry out mission essential tasks in the near term.
enlistees must be high school diploma graduates, and at
Moreover, without stable recruiting levels they would lack
least 60% must score above average on the AFQT.
a sufficient pool of entry-level personnel to develop into the
Supplementary ways to assess the quality of enlistment
mid-level and upper-level leaders of the future. To maintain
cohorts include the percentage of NPS enlistees who score
a healthy military force structure, each Service sets goals
well-below average on the AFQT (Category IV) and the
for new personnel accessions each fiscal year for both its
number and types of enlistment waivers granted to enlistees
Active and Reserve Components. Officer and enlisted goals
for medical reasons, misconduct, or drug use. DOD
are set separately. For enlisted personnel, there are both
regulations require that no more than 4% of an annual
quantity and quality goals.
enlistment cohort may be Category IV (10th-30th percentile
on the AFQT). In addition, no one in Category V (1st-9th
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Defense Primer: Active Duty Enlisted Recruiting
percentile on the AFQT) may be admitted into the U.S.
Table 2 and Table 3 list recruit quality benchmarks and
armed forces. In the case of waivers, there is no official
results for FY2018-FY2020.
benchmark.

Table 1. Non-Prior Service Accessions Data (Quantity)
Active Component Enlisted Personnel, FY2018-FY2020

FY2018
FY2019
FY2020
Percent
Percent
Percent
Service
Goal
Achieved
of Goal
Goal
Achieved
of Goal
Goal
Achieved
of Goal
Army
76,500
69,972
91.5%
68,000
68,185
100.3%
61,200
61,249
100%
Navy
39,000
39,018
100.0%
39,000
39,027
100.1%
39,600
39,678
100%
Marine
31,556
31,566
100.0%
31,767
31,777
100.0%
28,028
28,048
100%
Corps
Air Force
29,450
30,343
103.0%
32,300
32,421
100.4%
26,373
26,373
100%
Source: Department of Defense.
Table 2. Non-Prior Service Accessions Data (Quality – High School Diploma Graduates)
Active Component Enlisted Personnel, FY2018-FY2020
Service
DOD Benchmark
Achieved FY2018
Achieved FY2019
Achieved FY2020
Army
90%
95.0%
93.7%
95.8%
Navy
90%
97.8%
97.7%
97.4%
Marine Corps
90%
99.8%
99.5%
99.5%
Air Force
90%
98.6%
98.5%
98.5%
Source: Department of Defense.

Table 3. Non-Prior Service Accessions Data (Quality – Above Average AFQT Score)
Active Component Enlisted Personnel, FY2018-FY2020
Service
DOD Benchmark
Achieved FY2018
Achieved FY2019
Achieved FY2020
Army
60%
63.9%
60.6%
62.9%
Navy
60%
75.3%
71.6%
70.2%
Marine Corps
60%
69.9%
69.4%
69.5%
Air Force
60%
82.8%
81.8%
82.2%
Source: Department of Defense.
Relevant Statutes


Title 10 U.S. Code, Chapter 31
Other Resources
10 U.S.C. §115
DOD Instruction 1304.26, Qualification Standards for

Enlistment, Appointment, and Induction

DOD Instruction 6130.03, Medical Standards for

Appointment, Enlistment or Induction in the Military Services

Defense Manpower Data Center, DOD Personnel,

Workforce Reports, and Publications.





Lawrence Kapp, Specialist in Military Manpower Policy
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Defense Primer: Active Duty Enlisted Recruiting

IF11147


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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF11147 · VERSION 4 · UPDATED

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