After completing preventive maintenance on March 30, 2022, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) was completed, Sailors assigned to the ship prepare to reattach the starboard anchor chains. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s latest budget proposal will cut more than a thousand sailors from the sea service, a reflection of a difficult recruiting environment that defense officials predict will only get worse.
The Navy should achieve its recruiting goals for active duty sailors this year, Chief Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said to Congress Wednesday. Gilday stated that the Navy will face more challenges in meeting its numbers in the long-term, particularly when it comes to recruiting cyber-savvy sailors.
According to projections in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget request, the Navy’s end strength will be less than 1,300 by September 2023.
The Navy’s end strength is expected to remain relatively static between FY 2021-2023 with a slight increase each year. According to budget projections, the Navy’s end strength was 347.677 as of September 2021. The average strength was 352,633, with a strength of 352,633.
The September end strength is predicted at 347,484 with an average strength 351,177.
Trouble recruiting is one of the main reasons for the decline in average and end strength, according to the top leaders of the Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee.
The services are having difficulty recruiting in a competitive marketplace, as Gil Cisneros, Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness, testified at an April 27 hearing.
Cisneros informed senators that the Department of Defense had planned to raise its pay by 4.6 percent in order to combat the market. This will increase the economic security of service personnel.
The Navy is starting to see more competition from private sector. Larger companies offer incentives that are comparable to what the military offers recruits. Vice Adm. John Nowell told senators. This is due to a higher unemployment rate during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Nowell testified that we are moving in the right direction to meet our FY 22 accession goal at the aggregate level. However, we will do this by reducing the delayed entry program from historic norms. This will be difficult to sustain to remain competitive.
Capt. Dave Hecht is the spokesperson for the chief naval personnel.
For active-duty enlisted personnel, the goal was 33,000. 33,559 sailors were enlisted by the Navy. The Navy did not reach the 6,425 target for reservists with 5,631 recruits.
The Navy was unable to reach its goal for active-duty officers. It commissioned 2,508 officers when the target was 2,522. It also failed the goal of 1,319 for reserve officer recruits, only bringing in 866.
Cmdr. Dave Benham, spokesperson of Navy Recruiting Command.
Sailors in recruit Division 012 present class, and 2d Marine Division, (MARDIV), guidons in USS Midway Ceremonial Drill Hall at their boot camp graduation at Navy Recruit Training Command. This was Dec. 10, 2021. U.S. Marine Corps Photo
The Navy offers a minimum enlistment bonus for $25,000 and up to $50,000 for certain jobs to try to compete. Benham informed USNI News via email that this was in an effort to help you get started.
Benham said that service is more than just about the money. We feel these bonuses, combined with existing Navy benefits and the inherent pleasure of adventure, travel, and service in the best Navy in the world, will give us an advantage when recruiting top talent to guide us forward.
The Navy also met its FY 2020 goal for enlisted active duty sailors, but not for reserve enlisted sailors or officers.
Other branches offer enlistment bonuses as well, such as the Army and Air Force.
Some jobsYou can earn up to $40,000 in bonuses for soldiers, as well as additional bonuses like shipping out early. The Air Force is Bonuses up to $50,000Although the bonuses are high for special warfare enlistees and explosive ordnance disposition, they are not applicable to this position.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is well aware of the challenges faced by the military in recruiting, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby stated during a May 5, press briefing.
The propensity to serve is not always as strong as we’d like it to be, and quite frankly, an uncomfortably large number of young Americans aren’t able to meet the entry requirements, Kirby said. Then add to that COVID, which impacted our recruiters’ ability to get face-to-face contact with young men and women. All of this has made it a challenging environment for recruiting.
On May 4, 2022, Sailors assigned to forward-deployed amphibious attack ship USS America (LHA-6), assemble in formation for a dress-white uniform inspection on the ships flightdeck. US Navy Photo
The Navy is predicting a decrease both in average strength and end strength. However, the sea services did well in recruiting and retention in the years of the pandemic.
A RAND reportThe Navy’s end strength and retention increased in FY 2020 over FY 2019, even though the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning, it was found. The number of enlistment contract holders did decrease, as did the other services.
The RAND report stated that the pandemic resulted in higher unemployment rates which are usually a sign of more military recruitment. However, military branches were unable or unwilling to recruit in person.
The RAND researchers speculated that the Navy and other branches were focusing on retention to address the issue of end strength, despite a drop in enlistment agreements.
According to the RAND Report, the Navy was not the only military branch that saw increased accession in FY 2019 and FY 2020.
The Navy could still rely on retention to fill its fleet. According to a January report, the Navy had a 67 per cent re-enlistment rate in FY 2021 for sailors with six years or less of service, 68 per cent for six to ten years, and 85 percent for ten to fourteen years. NAVADMINThese details detail retention goals.
All groups exceeded the retention benchmarks.
According to the memo, re-enlistment rates for FY 2022 depend on assignment. For example, the retention goals for aircraft carriers are 64 percent for sailors who have served six years or less, 75 percent for six to ten years, and 90 percent respectively for 10 to fourteen years.
A sailor views the South China Sea from the hangar on the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, (CVN-72) Jan. 30, 2022. US Navy Photo
For sailors with less than six years of service, the retention goals for destroyer assignments are slightly higher at 72 percent, 79 percent for six to ten years, and 94 percent if you have 10 to 14 years.
Hecht stated in an email that the Navy has exceeded its retention goals for sailors who have served up to six years. The service has also retained 9,259 sailors in excess of its 8,716 goal.
Hecht stated that the Navy is also on target for meeting its retention goals for sailors who have served between six and ten years and between 10 to fourteen years.
Hecht said that we are confident in our ability achieve the overall annual retention goals.
