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According to a Vox Media report, the U.S. Armed Services recruitment crisis has resulted in the smallest U.S. Army since 1940; Nacy and Air Force recruitment numbers are also suffering.

The Army has failed to meet its recruiting goals for the last two years and missed its 2023 target by 10,000 soldiers, a 20% shortfall, Vox reported.

The active-duty Army currently has 445,000 soldiers, 41,000 fewer than in 2021 — and the smallest since 1940.

From Vox Media:

Three of America’s four major military services failed to recruit enough servicemembers in 2023. The Army has failed to meet its manpower goalsfor the last two years and missed its 2023 target by 10,000 soldiers, a 20 percent shortfall. Today, the active-duty Army stands at 445,000 soldiers, 41,000 fewer than in 2021 and the smallest it has been since 1940.

The Navy and Air Force missed their recruiting goals, too, the Navy failing across the board. The Marine Corps was the only service to achieve its targets (not counting the tiny Space Force). But the Marines’ success is partially attributable to significant force structure cuts as part of its Force Design 2030 overhaul. As a result, Marine recruiters have nearly 19,000 fewer active duty and selected reserve slots to fill today than they did as recently as 2020.

A decrease in the size of the active force might be less worrying if a large reserve pool could be mobilized in the event of a major war or national emergency. But recruiting challenges have impacted the reserve components even more severely than the active duty force. The National Guard and Reserves have been shrinking since 2020. Last year, the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve each missed their recruiting targets by 30 percent. The Army Reserve had just 9,319 enlistees after aiming to recruit 14,650 new soldiers. Numbers for the Navy Reserve were just as bad — the service missed its enlisted and officer targets by 35 and 40 percent, respectively.

Donald Trump is promising to fix the recruitment crisis and rebuild America’s military.

“It’s time to create the arsenal of the 21st Century,” Trump said in the Piedmont community of Asheboro last month. “We need a very dramatic increase in development and, in so doing, we will create countless American jobs.”

“Thanks to Comrade Kamala and Joe Biden, morale in our military is now so low that almost every single branch is suffering a major recruitment and retention crisis,” Trump said. “Upon taking office, I will begin the largest peacetime recruitment drive in the history of the armed forces. We have to fill our armed forces with great people … the sense of spirit, pride, and prestige will soon come roaring back.”

More over at Vox Media: