Marines, Army hit recruiting goals while building bonds for new servicemembers

When Marine Staff Sgt. Dimetri Bouchee talks to high school students interested in joining the Marine Corps, he’s got his work cut out for him.

While the Marines pride themselves on being the elite service branch that recruits only the best, securing those candidates is getting harder, and sometimes Bouchee has to downplay the image Marines are most known for – their warfighting.

“We are a warfighting organization; we pride ourselves on that, but that’s not only all we do,” Bouchee said, adding that out of 177,000 Marines worldwide, only 14% are infantry. “We pride ourselves on being the hardest branch, and with that comes challenges, but there are 350 job opportunities, and not all know that.”

The military branches have seen some recent improvement in meeting recruiting goals – for the first time in several years most hit or exceeded goals in fiscal year 2024 – but they want to put an emphasis going forward on getting the word out about the varied job opportunities.

It is also an opportunity to appeal to the next generation’s sense of purpose and desire to have a tangible impact. Recruiters are working hard to build deeper bonds with potential recruits by humanizing what military service means and by working with influencers around them.

“The next generation of Americans to serve should know that there has never been a better time for them to choose military service,” Katie Helland, director of Military Accession Policy for the Department of Defense, said during a briefing with service leaders this week at the Pentagon on the most recent fiscal year’s recruiting numbers. “Youth today seek a larger purpose in their lives and desire jobs where they have greater participation in decision making and can create a direct tangible impact. Military service offers all of this.”

Helland said 225,000 new servicemembers joined the Armed Forces last fiscal year, an increase of 25,000 from 2023. There was also a 35% increase in military contracts signed by recruits who are going to delay their start until fiscal year 2025 – that’s a 10% increase from the previous year.

After falling short of its recruiting goals for the last two fiscal years, the Army saw the most improvement in attracting interest. It had also reduced its goal to 55,000 recruits. The Air Force hit its goal of 27,100 recruits, and for the first time since the pandemic, the Marines hit 30,501 recruits. Space Force exceeded its goal of 659, bringing in 716 recruits.  The Navy brought in 40,978 recruits against a goal of 40,600.

For fiscal year 2025, the Army,  Air Force, Space Force and Marines plan to increase their recruiting goals, while the Navy will keep its goal the same.

The Marine Corps has also recently prioritized retaining those in its service and saw a 10-year high in Marines reenlisting in fiscal year 2024.

“This is a historic year for retention,” said Lt. Gen. Michael J. Borgschulte, deputy commandant for Manpower & Reserve Affairs.

Still, service leaders say they continue to face challenges from what they call a “growing divide between military and civilians.” Department of Defense data indicates a decline in eligibility among youth and a generally low propensity to serve, shrinking the pool of potential recruits from which all the service branches look to pluck.

“A large percent of today’s youth are not interested in military service and have many misperceptions about what life is like as a military service member,” Helland said, adding that in the last decade, data indicates that the majority of youth “for the first time have never considered military service as an option.”

There has been a shrinking military footprint and declining presence of military veterans across society, she said, with fewer people having ties to the military in their families. In 1990, 40% of young adults had a parent who served; that number now is at 15%, according to DOD data, which also shows that 77% of youth between 17 and 24 are not qualified for military service without some sort of waiver.

Helland said another challenge recruiters face is military service being seen as an alternative to college or an option of last resort.

“We are working to reframe this narrative so that Americans understand that military service is a pathway to greater education and career opportunities while defending democracy and the freedoms we hold dear,” she said.

“The military represents one of the most educated organizations in the world across all ranks,” she said, adding it comes with benefits such as competitive pay packages, retirement savings and health care. “We offer these things that the young adults today look for when choosing a career, but in many respects, they just don’t know it.”

Bouchee, who recruits at south Orange County schools such as San Clemente High, Dana Hills High, San Juan Hills and JSerra Catholic High, said getting the word out about the Marines is helped by having a good rapport with local teachers, school board members, city council members, coaches and other influencers in young people’s lives. Also, making parents aware of the opportunities involved is key, he said.

Recently, members of the 1st Marine Division’s 1st Regiment out of Camp Pendleton were at San Clemente High for Military Appreciation Night, held during a Friday night football game. The event is meant to introduce the community to Marines, not only as the town’s neighbors to the south, but also to humanize them.

“We want to bring an awareness of the Marines to the community,” said Capt. Nicholas Rojas, also a San Clemente resident.

“For us to show up even though the community is so close to the base, it shows all our equipment, it humanizes who we are and shows a day in the life of a Marine,” he said. “We had personal conversations and people were eager to see our vehicles, equipment and drones. A child came up to us and said, “God bless you all and thank you for being here.’ I didn’t expect that.”

For Bouchee and two other recruiters, the event was also a good opportunity to share more about the Marines.

While they already work with school counselors and have a presence at the high school, being boots on the ground in their uniforms allowed them to interact one-on-one with students and their parents, he said.

“It’s so important for us to be seen,” Bouchee said. “Having parents aboard is one of the most ideal things that can happen.”

“When we’re at an event like this, we see the little kids jumping on the military vehicles and show them how the rover flies in the sky,” he said. “It takes intelligence to be a Marine, not just brute force. Showing the intelligent side stamps out the stigma and a lot of stereotypes.”

An Army recruiting event at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles was expected to draw thousands on Friday and Saturday; it also showcased opportunities with the service for civilians.

The Army, in the last few years, has focused on recruiting along the West Coast, especially in large metropolitan cities. California and Los Angeles, in the last fiscal year’s recruiting numbers, were the top two locations in terms of recruits in the Western Recruiting Command, with about 10,000 new recruits, which was a 16% increase from the year before, said Mario Diaz, deputy undersecretary of the Army.

The recruiting fair highlighted some careers people might not have thought were available, such as jobs in childcare, chemistry, construction, security, intelligence and engineering.

Civilians and active duty at the job fair could receive signing bonuses up to $50,000, free health care for themselves and their dependents, and 30 days of paid time off.

Diaz said this is the third time the Army has opened jobs to both active-duty and civilians simultaneously. Two other such fairs in Houston and Dallas drew thousands.

One thing Diaz points to as being especially successful in the Army’s recruiting efforts is its Future Soldier prep course, which prepares young men and women for military service by giving lower-performing recruits up to 90 days of academic or fitness instruction to help them meet military standards. The course has a graduation rate of more than 90% in both academic and physical tracks.

Diaz, who is from California and served in the infantry for 30 years, is focused on increasing the Army’s visibility in the state, especially in urban communities.

Called the California Commitment, Diaz said he is building relationships with school superintendents, school boards and officials at all levels of government. After the Army closed many of its bases in the 1980s and 1990s, he said, it left a “knowledge void, which Californians had to fill through movies and other media.”

“However, there are many sides to the Army that Hollywood doesn’t always capture,” he said, pointing to the civilian opportunities with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. On the active-duty end, many jobs exist in space, cyber and electronic warfare, he said.

“Building relationships gives us increased access to schools, especially where, in the past, there hadn’t been,” he said. “I’m a big believer not just in recruiting but building relationships with influencers.”