WACO, Texas (KXXV) — As the Army anticipates its 250th birthday next month, there’s been a sharp rise in recruitment numbers, already reaching 85% of their 61,000 recruitment target for the fiscal year.
- The Army's 250th birthday is June 14th, 2025.
- As we approach May, the recruitment numbers nationally have been 51,837 since January of this year.
- This branch of the military has reached 85% of its 61,000 recruitment goal
- For more information on the Army, click here.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The time is now, going from high school graduate to serving our country, and that road to the military is getting a lot of foot traffic right now.
Some, like University High School Senior Juliana Macias, have decided to go into the Army.
“It's just more opportunities that I couldn't do without being in the army,” Macias said.
She starts boot camp in August, ready for what this branch has to offer.
“It just seemed more like financially responsible to do Army and then go while I'm in the Army, do college,” Macias said.
And what she’s looking forward to most:
“Meeting new people and exploring different possibilities in different places.”
As the Army approaches its 250th birthday next month, recruitment numbers have sharply risen. According to Military.com, more than 51,000 Army recruits have been enlisted, 85% of the 61,000 recruit target for the fiscal year.
So why so high and why so quickly?
“At our company level and at our station level, um, we have been trying to reach out more to the communities. We are going out to the high schools a lot more and basically expanding on everything that the army can offer, and a lot of fighting misconceptions or stuff in the past. We're basically putting ourselves out there so that we're an open book and people can ask us any questions they have,” Jose Gonzalez, Detailed Recruiter in Copperas Cove, said.
“There are many other benefits like educational benefits, training benefits, so if someone wants to enlist and not maybe necessarily go to college, they could always train to be an Air Force mechanic. They could also train to be a meteorologist, there's lots of unlimited possibilities when it comes to the Air Force and what the Army may not offer, maybe another branch offers it,” Renee Jacinto said, College Career and Military Readiness Specialist at University High School.
With such a big boom in such a short amount of time, recruiters are looking forward to what’s ahead.
“The people that come in with different life stories and different stuff going on with their lives, it feels, it's a very rewarding job to actually see how it helps certain people. So I think that's the best feeling,” Gonzalez said.
