US Army Secretary Christine Wormuth says the service is “not going to lower our standards” The Army – along with the other military services – is facing substantial challenges to recruit the number of new service members they need. Lawmakers have pressed military leaders on the question of lowering standards to meet their recruiting goals. Wormuth acknowledged Thursday that the goal of 65,000 was “always a stretch goal,” but said that while the Army won’t meet it, they will bring in “more young Americans into the Army than we did last year” “And that’s positive, but we’ve got more work to do,” Wormuth said. “So, I think by several thousand, we’re going to do better than wedid last year,” she said Thursday, “and that’spositive, but We’ve Got More Work to do” The Army missed its recruiting goals by 15,000 new soldiers in 2022, but is expecting to bring in thousands more recruits this year than they did in 2013. The Army’s new fitness test, which some lawmakers have criticized as easier than the previous test, will be rolled out in the coming months, the Army says. The service has said it will not lower standards because “even if you’re a cyber warrior, even if you’s a cook, you may find yourself in combat” in the future, Wormuth told CNN on Thursday. “The front line is very, very mutable, and so I think all of our soldiers, no matter what they do, have to meet some basic fundamental requirements for fitness,” the Army secretary said. “So I think Gen. McConville and I have made a pact not to lower standards,” she added, referring to the Army’s chief of staff, Gen. David Petraeus, who is in charge of the US Army National Guard and the Army Reserve. “We’re going, instead, to instead invest in Americans to meet our standards,” said Wormuth, who was speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado. “That’s what Gen. Petraeus and I are focused on,” said the Army chief of military operations, “investing in Americans,” she told CNN. “I think we saw from some of the years in the early 2000s, we lowered some of our standards we gave … what we call moral waivers, and that came back to bite us, frankly, in the backside,” she continued. “And so we have to make sure that we don’t do that again,” she concluded. The U.S. Army has a goal of bringing in 65,00 new soldiers this year, but leaders have said that they don’t expect to meet that goal this year. It is expected that the Army will recruit more than 60,000 recruits in 2015. In 2012, the service recruited more than 70,000 soldiers, but that number is expected to rise to 80,000 in 2015, and then to 90,000 next year, according to Army officials.
US Army secretary emphasizes that service is ‘not going to lower our standards’ despite recruiting challenges. US Army secretary: Service is not going toLower our standards. Despite recruiting challenges, service is not lowering its standards.
