The National Guard has exceeded its fiscal 2025 recruiting goals with the Air National Guard and Army National Guard combining to recruit nearly 50,000 new enlistees, officials announced Sept. 23.
“Young Americans are eager to serve,” Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said in a release. “Today’s recruits are seeking long-term value, and the National Guard delivers through career training and hands-on, practical experience in more than 200 career specialties.
The Army National Guard started a new marketing campaign in March dubbed “Uncommon is Calling.” The campaign showcases the dual lives of Guardsmen who balance civilian careers with Guard duties during emergencies and national crises, according to the release.
That’s what attracted Spc. Bruno DaSilva of the 1060th Transportation Company to the Massachusetts National Guard.
“Outside of the National Guard, I have my own company. … I’m in the insurance business,” DaSilva said in the release. “In the National Guard, I can serve my country and run my business at the same time.”
The Army National Guard has hit 328,000 soldiers in end strength, officials said. Army Col. Timothy Smith, chief of the Army National Guard’s Strength Maintenance Division, credited dedicated recruiters and the Future Soldier Preparatory Course as initiatives that helped the Guard exceed their goal.
“Their hard work is the bedrock of our readiness. The organization has made recruiting and end strength priorities because if you can’t fill your end strength, you can’t be ready,” Smith said. “They’re tied together. Our readiness starts with our recruiters.”
The Future Soldier Preparatory Course serves as a bridge to basic training, helping recruits improve either academically or physically before starting basic training. Nearly 7,000 Army National Guard recruits have entered basic training through the course to date, according to the release.
Nordhaus and Senior Enlisted Advisor John Raines visited the course at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in March to meet the cadre and trainees, officials said.
“We’re a team of teams,” Nordhaus said, “We need every committed American who wants to serve, even if they aren’t meeting the standards when they make that decision. This program helps them reach their potential and ensures we have high-quality Soldiers in our formations, because the standards won’t change.”
The Air National Guard also surpassed its recruiting goals and is on track to surpass 105,000 airmen by the end of the fiscal year, according to the release.
Air Force Col. Daniel Curtin, director of Air National Guard Recruiting and Retention, said the success is driven by several factors, including “19 consecutive months of year-over-year increases in new accessions.”
“The recruiting environment is strong,” Curtin said in the release. “We have worked diligently to establish a culture of excellence and opportunity that appeals to potential recruits.”
The Air Guard is working to centralize recruiting efforts within each state and territory. Previously, some recruiters operated under a wing or force support squadron, while others worked under a state’s joint force headquarters. However, Air Guard recruiting headquarters will now operate as separate flights or squadrons, solely dedicated to recruiting and retention, according to the release.
“The biggest thing we are trying to do is create a structure where you have a single officer that is responsible for the recruiting force in that state or territory,” Curtin said. “It is a formally appointed commander responsible for recruiting. That’s probably the most important thing that we’re driving out of this, because that allows us to do a lot of other things.”
Curtin also credited the funding of 150 temporary recruiting support positions and 210 temporary Unit Manning Document positions as vital in improving recruiting operations in fiscal 2025.
Nordhaus emphasized that the National Guard needs to maintain momentum on recruiting moving forward.
“The source of our strength is the fearsome deterrence of our warfighter talent — the men and women of the National Guard,” he said. “While we exceeded our goals with historic levels of recruiting this year, we cannot take our foot off the accelerator. We must continue recruiting the next generation of elite warfighters while retaining our most skilled and talented Soldiers and Airmen.”
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
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