Recruitment to US Armed Forces 'starting to pick up' after Pete Hegseth named Defense Sec: JD Vance

In an interview on Face the Nation Sunday, Vice President JD Vance suggested that US military recruitment is "starting to pick up" following the appointment of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. 

Speaking with CNN's Margaret Brennan, Vance highlighted the lack of morale regarding the military in recent years and argued that due to Hegseth's leadership, the military will see an increase in recruitment.

“Now there's another element to this Margaret too, which is we believe that military morale, at least until the election of President Trump, was historically low,” Vance stated. “You had the Army missing recruitment goals by tens of thousands of soldiers, and already recruitment is starting to pick up because Pete Hegseth is fundamentally a war fighter's leader at the Department of Defense. He is a guy who sees, not through the perspective of the generals or the bureaucrats, he looks at things through the perspective of the men and women that we send off to fight in our wars.”

The U.S. military has faced significant recruitment challenges in recent years. In 2022, the Army fell short of its enlistment goal by 15,000 recruits, reaching only 45,000 of a 60,000 target. The following year, the Army missed its "stretch goal" of 65,000, according to reports from the Associated Press. Critics have pointed to a range of factors, including lowering military standards and a shift in cultural priorities and policies under the Biden administration, as contributing to the decline.

Notably, reports have accused the military of prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives over traditional recruitment appeals. A report from September of last year revealed that the US Air Force had a DEI goal to reduce the "white male population" in officer ranks and implemented racial quotas.

The recent leadership transition appears to be having a positive impact on recruitment efforts. According to the AP, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth reported that the Army is on track to enlist 61,000 recruits by the end of the 2025 fiscal year and expects over 20,000 additional enlistees in the delayed entry program for 2026. In an interview with the AP, Wormuth downplayed the role of “woke” policies in the recruitment challenges. However the sharp rise in recruitment comes as Hegseth, who has vowed to remove such polices from the military, assumes his position as Secretary of Defense.

During his Senate confirmation, Hegseth criticized "woke" programs from the Department of Defense, asserting that such initiatives were detrimental to military effectiveness. He also attributed the rise in recruiting numbers due to the change in leadership from the Biden to Trump administration.

“We've already seen it in recruiting numbers," Hegseth said during his confirmation. "There's already been a surge since President Trump won the election."