A Soldier's Perspective

Military Meets Recruitment/Retention Goals

The military today released it's fiscal year 2009 recruiting numbers and every service met or exceeded their goals for recruiting and retaining high quality troops. As you know, the nature of the economy has allowed the military to be more picky about whom they allow to enter military service and competition is getting tough.

-The Army had 70,045 accessions, making 108 percent of its 65,000 goal.
-The Navy had 35,527 accessions, making 100 percent of its 35,500 goal.
-The Marine Corps had 31,413 accessions, making 100 percent of its 31,400 goal.
-The Air Force had 31,983 accessions, making 100 percent of its 31,980 goal.

In addition to these accession, every branch also met their retention goals. All six Reserve components met or exceeded their goals for fiscal 2009.

-The Army National Guard had 56,071 accessions, making 100 percent of its 56,000 goal and the Army Reserve had 36,189 accessions, making 105 percent of its 34,598 goal.
-The Navy Reserve had 7,793 accessions, making 101 percent of its 7,743 goal.
-The Marine Corps Reserve had 8,805 accessions, making 122 percent of its 7,194 goal.
-The Air National Guard had 10,075 accessions, making 106 percent of its 9,500 goal, and the Air Force Reserve had 8,604 accessions, making 109 percent of its 7,863 goal.

Losses in all Reserve components are among the best in recent years. (Note: This indicator lags by one month).

Tags: military attrition rate, military recruiting number, military retention rates 2009