U.S. Army soldier sets up a FGM-148 Javelin missile

The Army[1] is on the cusp of hitting its annual recruiting[2] target months ahead of schedule, a development that's prompting Pentagon planners to consider a rare move: increasing the active-duty force without Congress.

As of Monday, the Army had brought in 59,875 new active-duty enlisted soldiers with a total goal of 61,000 for fiscal 2025, which ends Sept. 30, according to data reviewed by Military.com. That tally includes about 14,000 recruits who signed up last year but delayed shipping to basic training due to school obligations or training capacity issues. Such recruits are counted in the year they begin service.

With the Army expected to hit its target in the next week or two, the Pentagon is weighing whether to invoke a little-used and relatively obscure authority that allows the defense secretary to increase a service's end strength by up to 3% without congressional action, four defense officials told Military.com. That would boost the Army's size from 450,000 soldiers to 463,500. The other option, a 4% increase, would require approval from Capitol Hill. The Army secretary also has authority to make some marginal increases.

Read Next: Pentagon Diverts $1 Billion from Army Barracks to Fund Border Mission[3]

"We probably wouldn't want to turn off the recruiting spigot," one Pentagon official with direct knowledge of the situation told Military.com on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. "We're winning and want to keep playing."

Some Army recruiting officials noted that shutting down or scaling back recruiting would be dead on arrival, given the service's recruiting arm has finally gotten into a groove since the disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some plans of scaling back next year to compensate for this year's surge of new recruits are being mulled, particularly as the Army is downsizing units.

While Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump have linked recruiting momentum with their leadership, there's no evidence recruiting is affected by the personalities of any given administration.

The recruiting rebound follows several years of shortfalls across the military services, with the Army missing its targets in both 2022 and 2023. The current momentum is the result of reforms launched during the previous administration, most notably the Future Soldier Preparatory Courses and streamlining the enlistment process at Military Entrance Processing Stations, or MEPS, where applicants were getting held up in bureaucratic gridlocks, mostly over routine medical waivers.

One in four Army recruits last year came through the Future Soldier Preparatory Courses, a basic training before basic training that's become the backbone of the service's recruiting recovery. The Pentagon estimates only a quarter of young Americans are eligible for military service.

The programs, split into academic[4] and fitness[5] tracks, are designed for applicants who flunk the SAT-style entrance exam or don't meet weight standards. Once they get up to snuff, they ship off to basic training like any other recruit. The prep courses graduated enough recruits to counter the entire recruiting shortfall.

The service plans to expand the program even further next year.

"The success we're seeing now is built on initiatives that began more than two years ago," one senior Army recruiting official said. "It's the result of hard work, not politics."

Also, a consistent factor in military recruiting gains is a weakening economy. The U.S. economy contracted by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2025, the worst performance in three years after Trump's chaotic trade war spurred uncertainty in global markets.

Meanwhile, the Army's recruiting ranks are quickly getting more diverse.

Service data shows a sharp drop in white enlistments, with just 37.5% of new soldiers identifying as white so far this year, down from more than 52% in 2021. Meanwhile, Hispanic and Black Americans are filling the gap: Hispanic recruits now make up nearly 27% of recruits so far this year, up from less than 20% four years ago, while Black recruits climbed to 28.3%, a nearly seven-point jump from 2021.

Women make up nearly 20% of new enlistments so far this year, up from 16% at the start of the decade, a modest but meaningful increase.

The increase in female recruits comes even as Hegseth has a history of questioning the role of women in the military, calling them "life-givers" in a book he wrote, adding that "we need moms, but not in the military." Hegseth and Trump have also fired women serving in top military roles[6], including Adm. Lisa Franchetti[7], the Navy[8]'s first female chief, without explanation.

While overall recruiting has been rocky, women have signed up at relatively steady rates, even as the number of men willing, or eligible, to serve has declined sharply. Since 2013, male enlistments have dropped by about 22%, from 58,000 to just 45,000 last year.

Women applicants often enter the process with a built-in edge: They're far less likely to have criminal records and are increasingly outperforming their male peers in education, part of a broader problem[9] with boys and young men falling behind in the larger economy and education. It's a key factor, given that academic disqualifications remain one of the top barriers to service.

Related: 'Last Stop USA': How the Army Is Trying to Fill in for a Broken Education System[10]

© Copyright 2025 Military.com. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rebroadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Military.com, please submit your request here[11].

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Opening of the Sabal Park VA Clinic in Tampa, Fla.

The Department of Veterans Affairs[1] and Pentagon will work more closely to ensure that veterans have an easier time accessing health care and benefits as they leave the U.S. military, the departments' secretaries announced Wednesday.

VA Secretary Doug Collins and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum last week pledging that their departments will collaborate on care for veterans and enroll troops in VA care before they leave the service. They also plan to improve support for service members diagnosed with mental health conditions as they transition to civilian life.

The two men released a video Wednesday saying the cooperation is a priority to ensure that service members and veterans get the benefits they have earned.

Read Next: Pentagon Diverts $1 Billion from Army Barracks to Fund Border Mission[2]

"We believe that Americans who raise their right hand and serve deserve a Department of Defense and VA that work in tandem looking out for their best needs," Collins said.

"It's a shame that for far too many years that pipeline, there's been a disconnect," Hegseth said.

Roughly 200,000 service members leave the armed forces[3] each year. And while they are required to take transition assistance classes beginning at least a year before they plan to leave the military, many don't, receiving waivers from their commanding officers, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The two-day programs provide information on career development, VA benefits, education and other support services. But veterans advocates say that allowing service members to opt out of the courses or rush through the curriculum is a disservice to veterans.

During a hearing in March, veterans service organizations said that, without attending the Transition Assistance Program in a timely manner, veterans may not apply for benefits or prepare adequately for their transition.

"Systemic delays must be remedied to ensure service members thrive rather than struggle in life post military service. Veterans who experience a turbulent transition will surely influence how friends, family and siblings view service in the military," Andrew Petrie, senior policy associate at the American Legion, said in a statement to the House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on economic opportunity.

The departments have increased transition support in the past several years, creating a transition program for service members with mental health issues to provide referrals and coaching, and making phone calls to new veterans.

But those programs required active participation by the service members -- enrolling in VA health services or requesting assistance from providers with knowledge of the programs.

In their memo signed May 23, Hegseth and Collins pledged that the two departments would "optimize shared use of health care resources, facilities and workforce."

The departments already operate a joint medical facility, the James Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago Illinois, and have agreements at roughly a dozen Defense Department clinics to allow VA medical professionals to see veterans in those facilities. But the new memo pledges to increase joint planning and shared expertise and infrastructure even more, although it does not include specific steps the departments plan to take.

According to the agreement, the VA and DoD also are working on a plan that would allow service members to enroll in VA health care before their end of service date.

And they pledged to improve continuity of care for service members with mental health conditions -- for example, communication between providers and pre-scheduled appointments.

"Providing continuity of care is more than just policy; it will help save lives," they wrote.

"This is only the beginning. From the unified electronic health record and a Joint Separation Health Assessment to strengthen suicide prevention initiatives, our departments will continue breaking down barriers to better serve those who serve," they wrote.

Related: A Decade After Scandal, VA Health Care May Be at Another Crossroads[4]

© Copyright 2025 Military.com. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rebroadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Military.com, please submit your request here[5].

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1st Lt. Kathryn Bailey, a Black Hawk pilot with the 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, goes over a checklist of her household items with her movers. (U.S. Army/Karen A. Iwamoto)

The Pentagon has directed the military services to cut the amount of money they spend on permanent change-of-station, or PCS, moves for troops in half by 2030 as part of an ongoing effort to reduce spending.

The services are tasked with cuts that amount to an initial 10% of the $5 billion PCS budget in 2027 and that increase annually -- hitting 50% by 2030, according to a May 22 memo that was publicly released Wednesday. The memo, by the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, says the services should target “discretionary move” budgets.

Pentagon leaders framed the push to cut those PCS moves as a way to reduce costs and provide stability for families. However, department officials did not offer clear definitions on what moves are discretionary and what guardrails will be put in place to keep the cuts from affecting families or careers.

Read Next: Pentagon Diverts $1 Billion from Army Barracks to Fund Border Mission[1]

Tim Dill, a top official in the Pentagon’s Office for Personnel and Readiness, told reporters that the department is giving the services four months to come up with plans to “reduce the frequency of PCS moves for service members, driving much needed efficiencies for the department and improving the quality of life for warfighters and military families.”

The memo charges each service to consider altering troop career pathways or just how many opportunities service members get to serve outside of their specialties.

Dill wants the service to “look at where is a move absolutely necessary to accomplish” giving troops “the right leadership opportunities,” and where “a move [is] not necessary to accomplish it.”

While the emphasis is being placed on “discretionary moves,” officials at the Pentagon on Wednesday struggled to define the term, and one explained it as moves that include operational travel inside the U.S., rotational travel to or from overseas, and individual service member training travel -- three categories that include a broad majority of military moves.

The memo and Pentagon officials stressed the outcome of the changes should be a boon for families, but they stopped short of offering guarantees on all possible scenarios.

The overall idea is also not entirely new. Several years ago, the Marine Corps made a push to offer more opportunities for families to stay put[2] for longer as part of an overhaul of its retention policies.

When asked whether a possible outcome of the new policy would be more family separations, given the tightening budget for moves, Dill said they were “not dictating the way in which this needs to be done and we would want to hear from the services, their concerns … about some of the examples you named.”

“We understand there's some risks associated with some of the methods,” Dill added.

Dill also pushed back on the idea that the new policy, framed as protecting military families, would result in single service members bearing the brunt of the burden to support jobs in less popular or less family friendly locations.

“This is not a policy where we just think we need to take the moves away from the families and put it on someone else -- it's for everyone,” he said.

Dill also said he is aware that some military locations are just broadly unpopular, and the department is “very open” to talking to the services about those dynamics. But Dill also said he thought “that there are service members out there that are perfect for any installation, but we want to make sure that where we can, we match up with service member preferences as much as possible.”

According to officials, cutting PCS moves is separate from another effort to address problems with the privatization of PCS household goods shipments[3] and shortcomings with the contractor that is taking over those shipments.

In a memo Tuesday to senior leaders and combatant commanders[4], Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced he ordered U.S. Transportation Command to address what he called "recent deficiencies" in performance by the company that manages the $7.2 billion contract to run the department's moving process.

Military families have reported numerous issues with scheduling and executing moves[5] that included issues such as packers not showing up, delayed pickups and deliveries, and surprise cancellations.

Related: Hegseth Orders Review of Defense Department's Support for Homeschooling[6]

© Copyright 2025 Military.com. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rebroadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Military.com, please submit your request here[7].

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