https://crsreports.congress.gov
Updated November 18, 2024
Defense Primer: Active Component Enlisted Recruiting
Congressional Role
The Constitution provides Congress with broad powers over the Armed Forces, including the power “To raise and support Armies” and “To provide and maintain a Navy.” In the exercise of this authority, Congress has historically shown interest in military recruiting, which is critical to maintaining a fully manned and capable volunteer military workforce. Congress exercises a powerful influence on recruiting through its establishment of personnel end- strength levels for the Active and Reserve Components. Higher end-strengths generally require more new recruits, higher rates of retention among current servicemembers, or some combination of the two. Through its oversight powers, Congress monitors the performance of the executive branch in managing the size and quality of the military workforce. Congress influences the achievement of recruiting goals by the armed services in a number of ways:
• authorizing military compensation packages that are
competitive with civilian employers (e.g., basic pay, education and health benefits);
• establishing criteria that affect eligibility for enlistment
such as age, cognitive, behavioral, and citizenship requirements; and
• funding recruiting programs that provide for dedicated
recruiters, market research, advertising, and military entrance processing stations.
Successful recruiting often depends on identifying a population that is both eligible and has a propensity for enlistment. The policy levers most commonly used to address recruiting issues include increased funding for additional recruiters, advertising, and enlistment incentives (e.g., bonuses, education benefits). When recruiting shortfalls occur, or are anticipated, Congress may elect to apply additional resources to these mechanisms. Likewise, when recruiting is expected to be strong, Congress may elect to shift resources away from these areas. Congress might also consider non-monetary initiatives that reduce barriers to enlistment or otherwise increase the pool of eligible individuals (e.g., waivers, process improvements).
Recruiting
Without a robust ability to bring new personnel into the military, the armed services would lack sufficient manpower to carry out mission essential tasks in the near term. Moreover, without stable recruiting levels they would lack a sufficient pool of entry-level personnel to develop into the mid-level and upper-level leaders of the future. To maintain a healthy military force structure, each armed service sets goals for new personnel accessions each fiscal year for both its Active and Reserve Components. Officer and enlisted goals are set separately. For enlisted personnel, there are both quantity and quality goals.
Quantity Goals Quantity goals are typically based on each armed service’s projected need for new personnel (both officer and enlisted) over the course of the year to meet its congressionally authorized end-strength. Enlisted quantity goals are based on the proportion of congressionally authorized end- strength that a specific armed service and component allocates to its enlisted force, less the projected number of currently serving enlisted personnel it expects to retain through the end of the year. As a hypothetical example, assume an armed service has an authorized Active Component end-strength of 200,000 total personnel, comprised of 30,000 officers and 170,000 enlisted personnel. If it projects that it will retain 140,000 of its current enlisted personnel through the end of the fiscal year, it might set a goal of enlisting 30,000 new individuals for that year plus a certain number more to account for those new enlistees who are separated before the end of the year (for example, for medical disability). The actual number of new enlistees needed may also change during the year as new projections are made about the retention of currently serving enlisted personnel, or if the armed service must increase or decrease the total size of its force (for example, if a Service Secretary were to exercise the authority of 10 U.S.C. §115(g)(1)(A) to increase congressionally authorized active duty end-strength for that armed service by up to 2%). Table 1 lists recruit quantity goals and results for FY2022-FY2024.
Quality Goals Quality goals for non-prior service (NPS) recruits, are established through law and policy. Two principal Department of Defense (DOD) quality benchmarks apply to NPS recruits. The first is the percentage of NPS enlistees who are high school diploma graduates (HSDGs). The second is the percentage of scores above average on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT Categories I- IIIA). DOD’s recruit quality benchmarks stipulate that at least 90% of NPS enlistees must be HSDGs and at least 60% must score above average on the AFQT. Supplementary ways to assess the quality of enlistment cohorts include the percentage of NPS enlistees who score well-below average on the AFQT (Category IV) and the number and types of enlistment waivers granted to enlistees for medical reasons, misconduct, or drug use. Law (10 U.S.C. §520) stipulates that no more than 4% of an annual enlistment cohort may be Category IV (10th-30th percentile on the AFQT). However, the 4% threshold may be increased to 20% at the request of the Secretary with congressional notification. DOD policy specifies that those who score in Category V (1st-9th percentile on the AFQT) are ineligible to enlist. Table 2 and Table 3 list recruit quality benchmarks and results for FY2022-FY2024.