What impact will the new Army recruiting campaign have on getting more civilians into the military?

SSG Carlos Madden — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 12:35:13 -0400

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Response by COL Randall C. made Jul 20 at 2023 6:48 PM

COL Randall C. — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 18:48:12 -0400

Personally, I like the return to adventure, possibilities and self-development ... in other words, "Be all you can be!". Last year's "Life in the Army isn't great, but we give you compensation" type of videos* didn't really seem to strike a chord with many.

However, what will the impact of the campaign on getting people to join? I'm sorry to say I'm skeptical of any notable difference. The eligible pool of recruits we draw from (Qualified Military Available (QMA)) has gone down due to poor physical conditioning and mental/physical health problems by about 20% from just the last five years (29% down to 23%).

Additionally with the "propensity to serve" dropping about 30% as well over that timeframe (from 13% to 9%), the numbers aren't that great - down from about 1.25M in the 'high quality potential' to about 685k now ... and the 565k drop is hurting!

The QMA numbers are hurting us more than the desire to serve right now. Recruiting videos and other influence campaigns can change the perceptions of the service (and we do need that), but I feel the programs like the Pre-Boot Camp Course will be critical and give us more "bang for the buck".
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* https://youtu.be/nO1wl0yXwGU and https://youtu.be/d1BFA-iTfjo
* Confidence in the military - https://news.gallup.com/poll/1597/confidence-institutions.aspx

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