Military

The Department of Defense announced today its recruiting and retention statistics by the active and reserve components for the month of May.  

Active duty recruiting.  The Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force met or exceeded their recruiting goals in May.  The Navy’s recruiting goal was 1,939, and it enlisted 1,947 (100 percent).  The Marine Corps’ goal was 1,843, and it recruited 1,904 (103 percent).  The Air Force goal was 1,037, and it recruited 1,049 (101 percent).  The Army missed its May recruiting goal of 6,700 by 1,661 recruits (75 percent).

Active duty retention.  All services met or exceeded their overall retention goals for May. The Air Force mid-career rate is below its goal, because of efforts to reduce its strength by offering voluntary separations in surplus skills.  All the services are projected to meet their retention goals for the current fiscal year. 

Reserve forces recruiting.  The Air Force Reserve surpassed its recruiting goal for the seventh month in a row, enlisting 682 recruits against a goal of 606.  The Army Reserve, Navy Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve brought aboard more recruits in May than in any previous month during this fiscal year, but still fell short of their monthly goals of 2,759, 1,143 and 1,038, respectively.  The Army Reserve enlisted 2,269 (82 percent), the Navy Reserve brought aboard 1,074 (94 percent) and the Marine Corps Reserve had 914 (88 percent).  The Army National Guard recruited 4,071 of its 5,791 goal (71 percent). Although the Air National Guard also fell short of its recruiting mission of 860 by enlisting 675 (78 percent), its year-to-date recruiting posture remained constant through May.  The retention rate of the Air National Guard is very strong; and they remain within 1 percent of target.

Reserve forces retention.  The latest retention figures are for May. Army National Guard retention was 106.5 percent of the goal of 2,728 and Air National Guard retention was 105 percent of its goal of 882.  The Army and Air National Guard are projected to meet their overall retention goals.  Retention remains very high in the Air Force Reserve.  Losses in all reserve components in April were lower than projected.  We continue to monitor the effects of the increased use of our reserve components on retention rates.

Fiscal year-to-date summary is provided below:

Fiscal 2005 Active Duty Enlisted Recruiting from Oct. 1, 2004- May 31, 2005

Fiscal 2005 Reserve Component Enlisted Recruiting from Oct. 1, 2004- May 31, 2005

Detailed information on specific recruiting data can be obtained by contacting the individual military recruiting commands at (502) 626-0164 for Army, (210) 565-4678 for Air Force, (703) 784-9454 for Marine Corps and (901) 874-9049 for Navy.  The reserve components can be reached at the following numbers: National Guard Bureau (703) 607-5934; Army Reserve (404) 464-8490; Air Force Reserve (703) 697-1761; Navy Reserve (504) 678-6055; and Marine Corps Reserve (504) 678-6535.