It’s national budget time in Washington, so the conversation on Capitol Hill is focused on numbers. But an important number is being overlooked, one that affects our ability to defend ourselves. At a time when threats abroad are growing, America’s ability to recruit the volunteers needed to fully staff its armed forces is on the wane.
The 2023 defense budget request just released by the Biden administration reduces the size of the Army by 12,000 soldiers. It isn’t that the Army doesn’t need those soldiers -- senior leaders have consistently said the Army is too small. The reason for the cut is that the Army projects that they won’t be able to recruit enough people to meet their quotas.
Indeed, this year it’s possible none of the services will meet their recruiting goals. Only halfway into the fiscal year, the Army and the Navy recently raised their bonuses for recruits to an all-time high of $50,000, the head of Air Force recruiting told his recruiters “we have warning lights flashing,” and the Marine Corps is short recruiters because the recruiting business now is so difficult.
