On Sep. 30, The Associated Press reported that the U.S. Army fell 25% short of their recruiting goals for the Fiscal Year (FY) of 2022, meaning 15,000 spots went unfilled. The Army brought in about 45,000 soldiers during the fiscal year that ended back in September, with the goal being 60,000.
The last time the Army didn’t reach their recruiting goal was in 2018, and before that 2005, according to the Associated Press. Due to military policies, local recruiters were unable to speak with The Arbiter about their experiences with recruiting Boise residents into the military.
The Arbiter spoke with the Chief of Public Affairs and Marketing at the U.S. Army Recruiting, Salt Lake Battalion, Jeffery Ross. The Salt Lake Battalion oversees the largest geographic area in the U.S. including Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Montana and a small portion of Oregon and Arizona.
The Boise company is included in this geographic area, which encompasses everything west of Interstate 84 and everything south of Moscow, including parts of North East Nevada, according to Ross.
Ross told The Arbiter that the Boise company hit 59% of their recruiting goal for this last fiscal year, with around 80% of those recruits coming from the Treasure Valley. He said that Boise is one of the hot spots for recruiting high school seniors nationally, despite the Army not reaching their goals this past fiscal year.
Ross also said the problem wasn’t lack of interest in military service; it was lack of qualification. From the age groups of 17-34, only 23% of Americans qualify for basic military service.
The number one disqualifier is applicants who are overweight or obese. According to a November 2021 Johns Hopkins study, 56% of Americans aged 18 to 25 are overweight or obese based on body mass index.
The second largest disqualifying factor is medication. In 2020, among Americans aged 18 to 44, 15.4% took medication for mental health purposes, according to the CDC. The exact number for 2022 is unclear, but reports indicate the use of prescription medication rose “significantly” following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Results from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health said that the use of illicit drugs was highest among the group of young adults aged 18 to 25 at 37%, or 12.4 million users.
Other factors that could disqualify applicants were eyesight, nose piercings and gauged ears, which would need to be surgically repaired before consideration. Legal trouble from DUIs, possession of tobacco in certain states and parking tickets are additional factors that can prevent eligibility.
Retired Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Army Special Forces, Purple Heart and Bronze Star medal recipient, Jason Amerine, told The Arbiter he believes the recruitment shortage comes down to the military not paying people enough.
“Another just inherent issue that I’ve always had with the DoD, the DoD wants to invest a lot more money into technology than it does its own people,” Amerine said.
For the FY 2022, The Department of Defense (DoD) distributed a $173 billion budget to the Army, according to the Fiscal Year 2023 President’s Budget Highlights. Of that $173 billion, $43.8 billion went to pay and allowances for the regular Army, which doesn’t account for the Army National Guard or Army Reserve.
Elise Ledesma | The Arbiter
According to Business Insider, for the lowest enlisted rank in the U.S. Army, Private, base pay starts at $20,340 a year as of November 2022. After a year of service, the person will advance to the rank of Private First Class, with a pay increase to $25,920 a year.
The FY 2022 enacted budget accounted for $22.8 billion in procurement for the regular Army, which included spending on aircrafts, missiles, ammunition, miscellaneous spending, weapons and tracked combat vehicles. For research, test and evaluation, $14.4 billion was accounted for in 2022.
According to Stephen Semler, co-founder of the Security Policy Reform Institute, 74% of weapon industry giant Lockheed Martin’s revenue came from congressionally approved funding. For fellow industry giant Northrop Grumman, that number was 84%.
“And then you add to that, all these congressmen in their congressional districts, they’re not making money off of people joining the military, but they are making money off of local businesses that are supporting the various parts of production of the latest gadgets,” Amerine said.
According to OpenSecrets, from 2016 to 2021, the top five military contractors received more money from the federal government than any other government contractor. The defense sector contributed $19.5 million to congressional candidates during the 2022 election cycle, $17.5 million of which went to incumbent members of Congress.
The first OpenSecrets article referenced details on how the largest recipients of defense contractor contributions were members of Congress who serve on the House or Senate Armed Services and Appropriation Committees. These committees are in charge of drafting the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which funds annual defense spending.
According to The New York Times, in 2022, the Army awarded Raytheon Technologies more than $2 billion in contracts to deliver missile systems to weapons used by the Ukrainian government.
“So we have this system that basically incentivizes hardware over people,” Amerine said. “And when you see an economy in the state that it is now, you suffer for it because we’re not paying people enough money and we don’t want to increase the pay for people, so here we are.”
