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The United States Air Force Reserve is projected to fall short in FY24 recruitment totals, missing its 69,600 end strength by approximately 2,900 personnel according Air Force Reserve chief Lt. Gen. John Healy said in written testimony before Congress.
Citing a competitive environment to bring in new talent as a hurdle, but says retaining troops who previously joined has been less of an obstacle.
The Air Force Reserve chief Healy outlined steps the Air Force is already taking to adjust its accession policies that may have previously limited its ability to recruit young adults, including revisions to its tattoo policy and body fat standards, as well as offering waivers for drug re-testing.
While active duty officials from several of the services have said their recruiting programs are on track to meet fiscal year 2024 goals, following a tough period of attracting new troops across the armed forces, some reserve components appear to still be facing difficulties in meeting their authorized numbers.
“The Air Force Reserve faces many recruiting challenges — a decreasing propensity to serve, insufficient recruiter manning, cultural headwinds, and a competitive employment market — which are expected to persist over the next several years,” Joe Gangemi, a spokesperson from the Air Force Recruiting Service, told Military Times in a recent interview.
Most of the current shortfalls with the Air Force are with enlisted traditional reservists says the report.
To help address the issue the Air Force Reserve has implemented an expanded travel reimbursement program and a tiered retention bonus for enlisted airmen with five to 10 years of service.
Similar to the Navy, Healy said keeping airmen in the component is currently going well, highlighting in his statement an 88.3 percent retention rate, in line with the force’s 10-year average.
The Army and Marines appear on track to hit their quotas, the Navy looks to miss their quote but, the report from the Navy underscored that while missing their projected end strength, they still will end up higher than the actual total of personnel reached the previous two fiscal years (in FY22 that was 55,224 and in FY23 it was 55,072).
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