The United States Army missed its recruiting goal for Fiscal Year 2022 by about 15,000 recruits, according to a report by CNBC. Lt. Col. Lucas Yoho with the Army’s Minneapolis Recruiting Battalion Commanding Officer oversees recruiting for Minnesota, Iowa, and the Dakotas. He said not enough young people are physically fit enough or can pass the aptitude tests to qualify.
“A lot of our folks, they’re really committed, and they want to do it,” said Lt. Col. Yoho. “Maybe they’re a little overweight, maybe they didn’t do so well in school, so we’re trying to close the gap there.”
Yoho said the Army has programs in place that can help potential recruits study and prepare for the ASVAB test or to get in shape. But he also thinks that recruiters can always do better to try to correct possible misconceptions about service and about what a commitment to the Army actually means for someone who is interested. He said that begins with explaining that’s not a lifelong career choice for most.
“For a lot of folks, a preponderance of folks that serve, it’s a waypoint. It’s a waypoint in life, and after they leave the service, they’re going to have resources,” Yoho said. “The biggest resource they have is probably money for college.”
Another challenge for recruiting across the Upper Midwest, according to Yoho, is the distance to the nearest Army base; in the southeast and along the West Coast, people may grow up around military families who are part of their communities.
“We don’t have a large active duty presence,” he said of Minnesota. “A lot of folks don’t even understand what the Army is.”
Lt. Col. Yoho encourages anyone who may be interested in the Army to sign up for a no-commitment chat with a recruiting officer at goarmy.com.
