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The Army announced on Tuesday that it “surpassed” its fiscal year 2025 recruiting goal of bringing in 61,000 recruits, and there are still four months left to go.
This year’s goal is more than 10% higher than the 55,000 recruits targeted in fiscal 2024, demonstrating a surge in interest and enthusiasm for Army service. Recent recruiting momentum has seen average contracts per day exceeding last year’s levels by as much as 56% during the same period.
The Army has not reached its recruiting goals this early in the year since 2014, Army officials said in a statement.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll spoke about reaching their recruiting goal on Monday, while speaking on a panel at the AI Expo in Washington, D.C.
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Both men spoke about the coming summer months historically being the best for recruiting and both are scheduled to appear on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to testify on the Army’s FY26 budget.
“Today the U.S. Army met our FY25 recruiting goals a whole four months ahead of schedule,” Driscoll said on Tuesday. “I want to thank the commander in chief, President Trump, and Secretary of Defense Hegseth for their decisive leadership and support which helped make this feat possible.
“I’m also extremely proud of the recruiters, leaders and other advocates who helped us smash this goal,” he continued. “America’s young women and men are proud of our country and want to serve in the U.S. Army and the results speak for themselves.”
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Driscoll acknowledged that the Army had experienced recruiting and retention challenges, though he said those days are behind the branch “thanks to the Herculean efforts of our recruiters, drill sergeants and leaders across the U.S. Army.”
Having already reached its goal, the Army will continue to recruit, though those who sign up will go into the delayed entry program.
The branch said in February that 350 soldiers had enlisted every day in December.
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In October 2023, the Army unveiled a series of sweeping changes to its recruiting enterprise, including an expanded focus on a larger share of the labor market and the creation of a specialized talent acquisition workforce.
The Army had surged medical providers to Military Entrance Processing Stations across the country to help make the enlistment process more efficient, and leveraged innovative new technologies to reach expanded audiences and help identify candidates interested in military service.
There was also a notable expansion of the branch’s Future Soldier Preparatory Course, which helps potential recruits overcome academic and physical fitness barriers to service, while allegedly “not sacrificing quality for quantity.”
Still, the U.S. military missed its recruiting goals by 41,000 in 2023.
In 2024, the Army announced it was cutting its force by 24,000 in a restructuring to “help the service fight in future wars.”
The almost 5% of jobs cut affected posts that remained empty, according to the Army.
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
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