Army hits its annual recruiting goal in eight months

The Army has surpassed its recruiting target for this fiscal year, exceeding a goal that was already significantly higher than it has been in the past.

“Yesterday, the United States Army met its fiscal year 2025 recruiting goal four months early, welcoming more than 61,000 new recruits,” Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll testified before Congress on Wednesday. The fiscal year runs through Sept. 30.

Driscoll credited the “focus on a return to warfighting and lethality” for the Army’s recruiting success, though several practical changes to how the Army finds new soldiers have played a key role in the surge of newcomers, lawmakers said. Driscoll noted that the Future Soldier Preparatory Course, which prepares potential soldiers for basic training, has helped recruits who were “right on the edg