US military active duty corps to drop to smallest size since WWII, says Pentagon

A dire recruiting crisis has the United States military entering the new year with its smallest fighting force since World War II, according to data from the Department of Defense.

Figures included in the National Defense Authorization Act approved by Congress last week show that active duty troops plunged by 64,000 personnel over the last three years. This places the current number at 1,284,500, the smallest the US military has been since 1940, according to reports. 

Pentagon Acting Undersecretary for Personnel and Readiness Ashish Vazirani told the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday that the Army, Navy, and Air Force all failed to meet their recruitment targets this year by a combined 41,000 recruits.

“That number understates the challenge before us as the services lowered end-strength goals in recent years, in part because of the difficult recruiting environment,” said Vazirani. 

The news vindicates those who warned during the pandemic that the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate would lead to a dire recruiting crisis.

In June 2022 now-House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) raised the alarm about the detrimental effect that coerced vaccinations would have on the US military. 

“The Biden Administration is destroying the readiness of our Armed Forces by creating an unnecessary recruiting and retention shortfall, and trying to make up the difference by lowering other crucial education and fitness standards,” tweeted Rep. Johnson. 

“All of this over an illness that is very, very, very, unlikely to have any significant effect on the young men and women of our military, and a vaccine that lacks long-term data on safety and efficacy for this cohort.” 

“There is simply no other way around it: Until [the Secretary of Defense] withdraws, delays, or modifies the vax mandate, or begins rapidly granting more exemptions, our military will have to continue lowering recruitment standards—degrading the readiness and professionalism of our Armed Forces,” he concluded. 

Johnson’s warning was prescient. Frontline News reported in October that over 7,950 US military personnel who were discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine have still not rejoined as the US military grapples with a severe recruiting crisis.

In 2021 all US service members were ordered to take the experimental mRNA injections, which resulted in over 8,000 personnel being discharged for their refusal. Although the mandate was rescinded in January this year, CNN reports that only 43 service members have rejoined the military. These include 19 Army members, 12 Marines, one Air Force member and two Navy personnel.

Many soldiers were forced to repay their signing bonuses after they were fired for being unvaccinated. One Army soldier who received a $7,000 signing bonus and was fired for refusing the shots in May must now pay back a pro-rated $4,000 to the Biden administration for failing to complete his six-year commitment. The soldier was forced to sell 60 of his vacation days to come up with the money.

The recruiting crisis — blamed partly on the vaccine mandate and partly on the military’s infiltration by gender totalitarians — prompted an Army decision in October to create a new career field dedicated solely to recruitment. Currently, noncommissioned officers are tapped to temporarily serve as recruiters in addition to their military occupational specialty (MOS). Now the Army will hire personnel whose permanent MOS is to recruit new members.

Other strategies to boost recruitment involve financial incentives. In January the Army announced it will begin offering a $1,500 sign-on bonus to Army recruiters who exceed their quarterly quota. The Army is also offering several enlistment bonuses to new recruits.

It is unclear if these strategies will be effective, however. The number of service members and veterans who would recommend joining the military has dropped significantly, according to the Military Family Advisory Network (MFAN), from 74.5% in 2019 to 62.9% in 2021.

The Pentagon has signaled it intends to launch a public relations campaign to reach potential recruits.

“While the picture of the current recruiting environment is acutely difficult, the Defense Department and the military services are working together to resolve issues, improve processes, and expand awareness of the many opportunities military service offers,” said Vazirani. “We must reach today’s youth where they are with a message that resonates with them and motivates them to act.”