Navy Recruiting Soars!
Go Navy!
Despite increased focus on recruiting and introducing several innovative programs to include increasing the maximum age of enlistment to 41 and easing restrictions on entrance exam scores, the Navy missed every recruitment goal in FY 23.
Big Navy fell short by nearly 7500 enlisted sailors, with only 30,236 enlistments of its 37,700 target. As a result, the Navy increased its goals for FY 24 aiming to cast a wider net in the potential recruit pool.
But how?
How low-scoring applicants ‘primed the pump’ for Navy recruiting boost
By Hope Hodge Seck
As recently as June, Navy officials were still predicting that the service would miss its recruiting target for a second consecutive year, even as other services waxed bullish about their strategies for recruiting success.
But in August, Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Rick Cheeseman revealed the Navy is now expecting to exceed recruiting targets comfortably, refilling its drained delayed entry program pool and creating some breathing room for the next fiscal year. And among the ingredients of this “catastrophic success” was an unconventional decision to allow in a greater proportion of recruits who scored in the bottom 30% in testing, two recruiting-focused admirals said.
In a round table with reporters Aug. 28, Rear Adm. Jim Waters, head of Navy Recruiting Command, and Rear Adm. Jeffrey Czerewko, commander of Navy Education and Training Command, said “opening the aperture” to bottom-scoring recruits, while not ideal, has so far not resulted in higher training attrition rates or other personnel problems.
As of the end of August, with one month to go in fiscal 2024, the Navy had contracted some 36,776 active-component enlistees and shipped 30,314 to boot camp. With an average of 4,000 contracts secured per month over the last four months, officials are now confident the service will meet its target of 40,600 contracts, Waters said.
The “catastrophic success” Big Navy realized has been achieved by “opening the aperture” for the slow, stupid and lazy. An extrapolation on how many will actually complete their first tour while commanding the lion’s share of deck-plate discipline from the LPOs and Chiefs has not been disseminated.
BZ to ADMs Cheeseman, Waters and Czerewko for the Best. Euphemisms. Ever. Put yourselves in for another MSM laddies.
Category: Big Navy, The Stupid is Strong
