U.S. Military Recruiting Statistics

The Department of Defense has announced its recruiting and retention statistics by the active and reserve components for the FY 2006 recruiting year.

Active duty recruiting. All services have met or exceeded their recruiting goals for fiscal 2006.

Active duty retention. Overall, the active duty services exceeded retention goals across the board. The Army, Air Force and Marine Corps exceeded fiscal 2006 retention goals in every category. The Navy retained in high numbers at the outset of the year, but a focus on physical fitness test performance led to an increase in disqualification among first-term sailors.

Reserve forces recruiting. Two of six Reserve components met or exceeded their accession goals for fiscal 2006, while two other Reserve components, the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard were close to making their end of year goals. Although the Army Reserve fell short of its annual accession goal, the U.S. Army Recruiting Command achieved 99+percent of its annual recruiting goal.

Reserve forces retention. Losses in all Reserve components were within acceptable limits. However, enlisted attrition through August 2006 is higher than the same period reported last year, but lower than the same period in the base year of fiscal 2000. The U.S. Naval Reserve presents a concern with its increasing attrition rates. We expect September 2006 to continue the current trend. (Note: This indicator lags by one month.)

Coast Guard. The Coast Guard is not included under the DOD statistics below (because the Coast Guard falls under the Department of Homeland Security), but the Coast Guard met its active duty recruiting goal for FY 2006, recruiting 3,992 enlisted members out of a goal of 3,950 (101%). However, the Coast Guard fell short of their Reserve goals, recruiting only 924 out of a goal of 1,390 (66%).

Fiscal 2006 Enlisted Recruiting from October 1, 2005 - September 30, 2006: