QUANTICO, Va. — The Army, Navy and Air Force, with encouragement from the Trump administration, all announced this summer that they had met their recruiting goals months ahead of schedule.

That is a major shift from the past several years when the military has failed to meet its recruiting goals because of complications from the COVID-19 pandemic, tight job markets and a growing generation of young Americans struggling to meet fitness and academic standards . Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed the turnaround as an early victory , arguing that recruits had been put off by what he called a weakened military under Democratic President Joe Biden.

However, the uptick began well before President Donald Trump won office again in November, and a major driver has been programs the servic

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