Choosing camo: Why are more young Americans enlisting in the military?

In a year when the United States was not directly involved in extensive armed conflict, America’s military still grabbed plenty of headlines in 2025.

Ongoing, escalating tensions with Venezuela, American air strikes in June on Iranian nuclear facilities and a series of politically divisive actions by the Trump administration to shift the U.S. armed forces away from so-called “woke” and “politically correct” policies all provided plenty of news feed fodder.

But here’s one of 2025’s most significant military stories: Young Americans are donning their country’s uniform in numbers not seen in over a decade.

The Defense Department is reporting that military recruiting efforts have returned to levels not seen in over a decade.

“Since November 2024, our military has seen its highest recruiting percentage of mission achieved in more than 15 years,” stated chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.

This fiscal year, all active-duty services “made mission,” according to the DOD release. Most reserve components also met their mission goals, with the exception of the Army Reserve, which met 75% of its goal.

A breakdown of how the active duty components of each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces met their respective recruitment goals:

• The Army had a goal of 61,000 recruits and attained 62,050, totaling 101.72% of its goal.
• The Navy had a goal of 40,600 recruits and attained 44,096, totaling 108.61% of its goal.
• The Air Force had a goal of 30,100 recruits and attained 30,166, totaling 100.22% of its goal.
• The Space Force had a goal of 796 recruits and attained 819, totaling 102.89% of its goal.
• The Marine Corps had a goal of 26,600 recruits and attained 26,600, totaling 100% of its goal.

Collectively, the five service branches accomplished their recruitment mission for fiscal year 2025 with an average completion rate of 103%.

Department leaders noted several factors that contributed to the strong recruitment numbers.

“In 2025, the department exceeded our annual active-duty recruitment accession goals across all five services. ... Why? Because we have a commander in chief and a secretary of war who are focused on our troops and our mission, and on ensuring that we remain the most lethal fighting force on the planet,” Undersecretary of War for Personnel and Readiness Anthony J. Tata said during a speech at a defense forum earlier this month.

“Our nation’s young people are responding,” he added.

Parnell also noted in the DOD release that leadership was a major factor in this year’s recruiting results.

“If you look at the data from November, from the election of President Trump and then Secretary Hegseth’s confirmation thereafter, the numbers that we’ve seen during that time period have been historic.”

Tata and Parnell co-chair the department’s Recruitment Task Force.

Continuing a pre-Trump trend in enlistment boosts

While the Trump administration takes credit for the recruitment increase, Defense Department data shows the uptick began before Trump’s reelection in November — and experts point to actions taken by the military during the Biden administration as key reasons for the increase, according to an Associated Press report in April examining rising enlistment rates.

Recruitment numbers for all military branches have been on the rise for the last few years, according to Defense Department data.

Experts cite factors such as improving recruitment strategies, increased bonuses and new prep courses that predated the 2024 presidential election as factors in the change — although they acknowledge Trump’s election also could have played a role, according to The Associated Press.

“There may be some American teenagers or their parents, more likely, who were more comfortable joining the military in a Republican administration than a Democratic administration,” said Katherine Kuzminski, director of studies at the independent Washington think tank Center for a New American Security and an expert on military recruitment told The Associated Press.

“But I don’t think that alone explains why we’ve seen an increase lately.”

Military enlistment was 12.5% higher in fiscal year 2024, which ran from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024, than in fiscal year 2023, The Associated Press report added.

‘Practical improvements’ equals recruiting gains

The DOD reported that the country’s military branches have also instituted “practical improvements” that support recruiting gains.

“These changes include courses that help improve overall aptitude among recruits and enhanced medical screening processes,” the DOD reported.

As an example of the latter, the DOD report highlights a medical records accession pilot program that has “significantly cut down on waiting times” from when a recruit’s initial paperwork is submitted to when they are allowed to be taken in by their local Military Entrance Processing Station.

As little as a year ago, the report noted, it could take up to 10 days between when a recruiter submits a recruit’s initial accession paperwork and when that individual could find out if they have been cleared. Today, it takes one day or less.

“The new focus on speed helps avoid potential recruits from losing interest in serving.”

Will recruitment increases continue in 2026?

Regarding the current fiscal year — which began on Oct. 1, 2025 — the DOD reports that recruiting efforts “are already off to a strong and promising start.”

“The department is on track to once again meet our recruiting mission,” said Tata.

The DOD recruiting report noted that challenges remain — and recruiters continue to work to increase interest “among the youth market and medical disqualifiers plaguing the potential recruiting pool among them.”

The DOD, the report added, is also working to counter “any pervasive misconceptions” among young people about what it means to serve in the military — while highlighting the benefits.

“Recruiting is a no-fail mission,” Tata said. “We will continue to maintain focus on sustaining our momentum, meeting our targets and securing the warriors we need to achieve peace through strength.”