US Air Force hit 2024 recruiting goal by meeting Americans where they are, not lowering standards

In today’s strong economy, recruiting successfully for the all-volunteer United States Air Force means overcoming strong and persistent headwinds. The challenges aren’t hard to find.

Low unemployment, competitive private sector wages and benefits, and broader societal shifts such as the legalizing of marijuana and rising obesity rates, to name a few, make a complex job even harder.

That reality is why we are proud that the US Air Force not only met our 27,200 active duty enlisted recruiting goal for this year, opening the aperture for more high-quality recruits to join in the future, but we also achieved it ahead of schedule. This stands in stark contrast to 2023 when the Air Force missed its goal of 26,877 new recruits.

But as important as the raw number is — and it is important — this year’s success highlights a lesser known but equally important story about the way the Department of the Air Force looked at the world as it is and moved decisively to eliminate out-of-date and indefensible barriers that blocked capable recruits from joining the service.

For example, while our standards for physical fitness and health remain rigorous, some policies persisted solely due to the “way things have always been done” mentality. Recognizing we were denying enlistment into the Air Force for things like certain tattoos or body fat composition, we optimized these policies without diluting the qualities and capabilities we need in each recruit.

In the real world it means we are no longer instantly rejecting smart and physically fit recruits simply because they have a small tattoo on the back of a hand — something that was happening just last year and conveyed to young Americans that our entry standards were out of sync with our nation’s current cultural norms.

We also instituted a two-year pilot program allowing recruits who tested positive for THC at entry a chance to retest after 90 days. Unlike before when they would be forever banned after failing the first test, if they pass the second and meet all other requirements, they are provided an opportunity to complete basic training and ultimately join the Air Force. This common-sense change is a clear example of how we are adapting to a reality in which 24 states have now legalized the recreational use of marijuana, not to mention the ever-expanding variety of over-the-counter products that include various levels of THC.

It’s important to recognize that amid these changes, there are aspects of recruiting that have not changed.

Most importantly, we have not lowered the high standards required for Air Force and Space Force recruits. Nor does purposefully seeking to recruit any American interested, willing and capable to serve mean we’ve embraced shortcuts or polices not rooted in data and clear-eyed analysis. In fact, of the 5,800 recruits who were accepted under our updated body composition standard, only one failed to meet the physical fitness test required to graduate basic training.

One other element that hasn’t changed is the dedication and prowess of our active duty and reserve recruiters stationed in communities across America. Over the course of the last year, we made training more focused and refined while also providing additional support not just to recruiters but to their families as well.

Despite this year’s achievement, we are not taking our eye off the ball.

We continue exploring new ideas for attracting qualified individuals to careers in our high-tech force. We are looking at ways, for example, to provide resources and time for those coming to us without a driver’s license to obtain one at their first duty station, rather than turn them away from certain career fields.  We need everyone, whether they are destined to fly supersonic airplanes, to test and maintain them, or to take mission enabling roles as cyber warriors, trauma doctors and nurses, search and rescue specialists, law enforcement investigators, among many others.

We understand too that with an ever-increasing military-civilian divide, we need to find ways to educate — and even excite — the public about the Air Force and what military service means. We must do even more to reconnect with young people where they are and find new ways to engage those with the greatest influence on their futures: their parents, coaches, teachers, guidance counselors, and even social media creators. We will continue to invest in growing propensity to serve — telling our story in new places and to people that haven’t heard it before — rather than just bemoaning it.

Due to rapid technological change and our focus on great power competition, the Air Force in 10 or 20 years from now won’t look like the Air Force of today.

But the one constant is this: Without the best people to operate and support our platforms, the edge we enjoy against our competitors and adversaries diminishes. Only when we can leverage the unique talents and skills of every community in America can we be ready for the threats our nation faces around the world.

Winning future wars on a distant battlefield starts by winning the war for talent here at home. That means we need to enable the next generation to see uniformed service for the lifechanging opportunity it truly is, not from afar, or just in a museum, but in their lived experiences, no matter who they are.

Alex Wagner is the assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs. Brig. Gen. Christopher R. Amrhein is the commander, Air Force Recruiting Service.