Wicker: Celebrates Military Recruitment Successes
By U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)
Honoring Public Servants on Independence Day
As Americans celebrate Independence Day, we remember the men and women who step up to serve our country. I think first of the patriots at the Second Continental Congress, who risked everything by ratifying the Declaration of Independence. Their courageous action established a tradition of public service that has endured. Throughout our history, countless Americans have put the future of the country ahead of their own. I am encouraged to see that tradition continuing today, especially in the men and women of the U.S. armed forces.
Improving Military Recruiting
Consider the rising number of Americans signing up to serve in uniform. The Army has already reached its annual recruitment goal, and the Air Force is close behind. The Navy, Marine Corps, and Space Force are also making good progress toward their enlistment targets. The data indicates that this trend will continue. More people have joined the “delayed entry pool,” the category for those who have signed up to serve but have not yet attended basic training. When this pool grows, we can expect continued recruiting progress in the next year.
We cannot take such progress for granted. Until recently, interest in military service was dangerously low. In 2023, only the Marine Corps and Space Force met their recruiting goals. It is not an exaggeration to say that these enlistment challenges were a national security danger. For more than 50 years, the United States military has been manned by an all-volunteer force. We have depended on men and women who freely choose to join. When we see more Americans raising their hands to serve, we should see it as a sign of renewed patriotism and a welcome change from the recent recruiting crisis.
The military services have been working hard to solve the enlistment challenges. Among their efforts are the Future Servicemember Preparatory Courses. The military requires recruits to meet certain academic and physical fitness standards, but some service-minded Americans do not meet those standards when they first apply.
The Army and the Navy began addressing this issue with the Future Soldier and Sailor Preparatory Courses, which offer instruction to help individuals reach the military’s standards. These creative efforts are fairly new, but the initial results are promising. Most recruits graduate from the programs with the results they need to continue into basic training and even outperform their peers. In my role as the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I am working with the Department of Defense to monitor these programs and to ensure we recruit those willing to serve without compromising the strength of our military.
JROTC Inspiring the Next Generation
In the Senate, I have also been working to support another successful program that helps cultivate public service. The armed forces sponsor Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or JROTC, at high schools nationwide. JROTC fosters discipline, citizenship skills, and leadership in students. Participating in JROTC boosts graduation rates and introduces students to the value of military service.
I have authored and successfully passed a number of laws to increase access to JROTC. Previously, some regulations favored schools in cities over those in rural areas. I helped lower the minimum number of students a program could have, allowing smaller schools to become eligible. I have also worked to address another challenge facing JROTC expansion: attracting more instructors. In 2023, I helped expand the types of veterans who could serve as instructors and increased payments these instructors receive. I am working in this year’s national defense legislation to give schools more tools to recruit instructors. An ever-shrinking number of Americans have any direct experience with the military. These JROTC leaders can change that. They can inspire the next generation to continue the tradition of patriotic service that has characterized the United States since the first July 4th.
This column is the weekly Wicker Report from U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, who is solely responsible for its content.
