The Department of Defense announced today its recruiting and retention statistics for the active and reserve components for fiscal 2008.  

 

            Active Duty Recruiting Fiscal 2008. All services met or exceeded their recruiting goals for fiscal 2008.

 

                        – The Army had 80,517 accessions,
                          making 101 percent of its 80,000 goal

                        – The Navy had 38,485 accessions,
                            making 100 percent of its 38,419 goal.

                         -The Marine Corps had 37,991 accessions,
                            making 100 percent of its 37,967 goal.

 

                        – The Air Force had 27,848 accessions,
                            making 100 percent of its 27,800 goal.

 

            Active Duty Retention. Army and Navy exceeded their fiscal 2008 targets. Although the Marine Corps retained far more first term personnel than last year, it did not meet its ambitious first term reenlistment goals and it achieved 95 percent total retention. Air Force missed its end-of-year mission in each reenlistment zone. We expect to see Air Force retention rates improve gradually through fiscal 2009, and we anticipate that Air Force will meet its fiscal 2009 end strength mission.

 

            Reserve Forces Accessions Fiscal 2007. All six reserve components met or exceeded their accession goals for fiscal 2008.

 

– The Army National Guard brought in 65,192 accessions, 103 percent of its 63,000 goal; the Army Reserve brought in 39,870 accessions, 106 percent of its 37,500 goal.

 

– The Navy Reserve brought in 9,134 accessions, 100 percent of its 9,122 goal.

The Marine Corps Reserve brought in 7,628 accessions, 100 percent of its 7,628 goal.

 

– The Air National Guard brought in 10,749 accessions, 126 percent of its 8,548 goal, while the Air Force Reserve brought in 7,323 accessions, 105 percent of its 6,963 goal.

 

            Reserve Attrition. Losses in all reserve components remain within acceptable limits. (Note: This indicator lags by one month)

 

            Detailed information on specific recruiting data can be obtained by contacting the individual military recruiting commands at (502) 626-0164 for Army, (210) 565-4678 for Air Force, (703) 784-9454 for Marine Corps and (703) 697-8761 for Navy.  The reserve components can be reached at the following numbers: National Guard Bureau (703) 607-2586; Army Reserve (404) 464-8490; Air Force Reserve (703) 697-1761; Navy Reserve (504) 678-6055; and Marine Corps Reserve (504) 678-6535.