US Military Sees a Historic Resurgence

_WHAT’S HAPPENING_

The US military has surged under the Trump administration, reversing years of recruitment and retention challenges.

After missing targets during the Biden-Harris years, every military branch has smashed its recruiting goals for the 2025 fiscal year.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump have prioritized this military revival, focusing on combat readiness, higher standards, and a renewed “warrior ethos.” This shift comes with promises of pay raises for service members and cultural changes in the military and its academies.

_THE FACTS_

• The Army missed recruitment goals by historic margins under Biden, falling 15,000 recruits short in 2022.

• Now, it has reached 85 percent of its 2025 goal of 61,000 new recruits with five months remaining.

• The Navy will exceed its target of 40,600 new sailors in 2025.

• Air Force recruitment hit 15-year highs for December through February.

• The Marine Corps is reporting historic retention rates.

• The Army's Holistic Health and Fitness program, which Hegseth implemented more widely, has demonstrated 23 percent higher combat test pass rates, 27 percent better marksmanship scores, and a 500 percent drop in substance abuse cases.

• Hegseth’s January order created major changes at West Point — the nation’s preeminent military academy — by removing critical race theory and gender ideology from the curriculum.

• Hegseth has also ordered a 20 percent cut to the number of four-star generals, firing those deemed to have put ideology over military readiness.

• President Trump promised "substantial pay raises" to troops during his May 15 visit to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

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