[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                     
                         [H.A.S.C. No. 118-50] 
                         
                         
                         
                         

                       RECRUITING SHORTFALLS AND
                     GROWING MISTRUST: PERCEPTIONS  
                         OF THE U.S. MILITARY

                               __________


                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                   SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL

                                 OF THE

                      COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION
                               __________

                              HEARING HELD

                           DECEMBER 13, 2023




                                     
              [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                     
  


                              -------- 
                              
                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 

55-202                   WASHINGTON : 2024 













                   SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL

                      JIM BANKS, Indiana, Chairman

ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York          ANDY KIM, New Jersey
MATT GAETZ, Florida                  CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania
JACK BERGMAN, Michigan               VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas
MICHAEL WALTZ, Florida               MARILYN STRICKLAND, Washington
BRAD FINSTAD, Minnesota              JILL N. TOKUDA, Hawaii
JAMES C. MOYLAN, Guam                DONALD G. DAVIS, North Carolina
MARK ALFORD, Missouri                TERRI A. SEWELL, Alabama
CORY MILLS, Florida                  STEVEN HORSFORD, Nevada

                        Hannah Kaufman, Counsel
                 Ilka Regino, Professional Staff Member
                  Alexandria Evers, Research Assistant 













                  
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

              STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

Banks, Hon. Jim, a Representative from Indiana, Chairman, 
  Subcommittee on Military Personnel.............................     1
Kim, Hon. Andy, a Representative from New Jersey, Ranking Member, 
  Subcommittee on Military Personnel.............................     2

                               WITNESSES

Parker, Hon. Franklin R., Assistant Secretary of the Navy for 
  Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Department of the Navy...........     6
Schaefer, Hon. Agnes Gereben, Assistant Secretary of the Army for 
  Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Department of the Army...........     5
Vazirani, Hon. Ashish S., Acting Under Secretary of Defense for 
  Personnel and Readiness, Department of Defense.................     3
Wagner, Hon. Alex, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for 
  Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Department of the Air Force......     8

                                APPENDIX

Prepared Statements:

    Banks, Hon. Jim..............................................    35
    Kim, Hon. Andy...............................................    37
    Parker, Hon. Franklin R......................................    59
    Schaefer, Hon. Agnes Gereben.................................    52
    Vazirani, Hon. Ashish S......................................    38
    Wagner, Hon. Alex............................................    70

Documents Submitted for the Record:

    OnMessage Survey.............................................    81
    Text from Minot Air Force Base...............................   101
    Breitbart Reporting Document.................................   102

Witness Responses to Questions Asked During the Hearing:

    [There were no Questions submitted during the hearing.]

Questions Submitted by Members Post Hearing:

    Mr. Bergman..................................................   105
    Mr. Davis....................................................   110
    Mr. Waltz....................................................   107
 
                RECRUITING SHORTFALLS AND GROWING MISTRUST: 
                    PERCEPTIONS OF THE U.S. MILITARY

                              ----------                              

                  House of Representatives,
                       Committee on Armed Services,
                        Subcommittee on Military Personnel,
                      Washington, DC, Wednesday, December 13, 2023.
    The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 9:59 a.m., in 
room 2118, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Jim Banks 
(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
    Mr. Banks. The hearing will now come to order. I ask 
unanimous consent that the Chair be authorized to declare a 
recess at any time. Without objection, so ordered.

  OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JIM BANKS, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM 
     INDIANA, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL

    Mr. Banks. I want to welcome everyone to this hearing of 
the Military Personnel Subcommittee. Today's hearing is focused 
on ``Rcruiing Shortfalls and Growing Mistrust: Perceptions of 
the U.S. Military.''
    I want to thank our witnesses for being with us today. I 
hope this hearing provides an opportunity for the members to 
have a productive exchange with our witnesses and provide 
answers to their questions.
    By all metrics, the All-Volunteer Force has been a success. 
It is the most highly trained proficient military force in the 
world, but at 50, the All-Volunteer Force is at a crossroads.
    In 2023, all military services except the Marine Corps and 
Space Force missed their recruiting goals. Although none of the 
three largest services--the Army, Navy, and Air Force--are 
healthy, recruiting shortfalls are particularly troubling in 
the U.S. Army. Last year the Army wanted to recruit 65,000 
Active Duty troops, but ended up falling 15,000 troops short. 
To stave off worse losses the Air Force and the Navy offered 
extensive financial bonuses and took a wide range of other one-
time measures. The Navy increased the maximum enlistment age 
from 39 to 41 and the Air Force to age 42.
    The recruiting crisis has multiple underlying causes, not 
least of which is the proliferation of bad news stories about 
military life. What parent or teacher would recommend military 
service to their son or daughter when the overwhelming 
perception is that there are rats in the barracks, suicide 
rates are climbing, opioids are everywhere, the food options 
are terrible or inaccessible, and there is a risk that your 
child could be raped or murdered? And there is the 
administration's pet project: focusing--or forcing the military 
to be the guinea pig for their next social justice experiment.
    Even now when we see that the DEI [diversity, equity, and 
inclusion] has failed across the country, increasing division 
and hate, ignoring merit, and now fostering rampant 
antisemitism, this administration still elevates social justice 
over our national security. And the result is a steep loss in 
institutional trust in the services and recruiting numbers at 
their lowest point in 50 years.
    There is one service that hasn't tried to bend to the 
culture wars. The Marine Corps stayed out--or stayed on message 
and has met their recruiting goals year after year. The 
Marines' success, where every other service has failed, is an 
indictment of this administration's failed social justice 
experiments.
    From today's panel I want to hear how DOD [Department of 
Defense] and the military services will provide a consistent 
message that emphasizes service and commitment and doesn't 
cater to woke theories. I want to understand how each service 
plans to update their recruiting strategy to address Gen 
[Generation] Z expectations, to familiarize a distant public 
with the military service, and to improve service members' 
quality of life.
    Let me introduce our witnesses: the Honorable Ashish 
Vazirani, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and 
Readiness; the Honorable Agnes Schaefer, Assistant Secretary of 
the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs; the Honorable 
Franklin Parker, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower 
and Reserve Affairs; and the Honorable Alex Wagner, Assistant 
Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.
    Welcome. But before we hear from our witnesses let me offer 
Ranking Member Kim an opportunity to make any opening remarks. 
Ranking Member Kim.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Banks can be found in the 
Appendix on page 35.]

 STATEMENT OF HON. ANDY KIM, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW JERSEY, 
       RANKING MEMBER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY PERSONNEL

    Mr. Kim. Yeah, thanks, Chairman. Thank you.
    Good morning everybody. I absolutely agree. Look, our 
military is facing its greatest recruiting shortfall since the 
inception of our All-Volunteer Force over 50 years ago, so I am 
glad we are holding a hearing on this very important topic.
    There is no doubt that the dwindling connection between our 
Nation's younger generations and knowing family or friends who 
have served in the military are influencing their willingness 
to put on America's uniform. So I am interested in hearing from 
our witnesses how they are engaging with Gen Z as well as on 
how they are being innovative in recruiting practices to convey 
the value of service, both in the military and throughout civil 
service. Also, whether it is reexamining the medical standards 
or ensuring the right bonus structures are in place, I want to 
know how the services are measuring the effectiveness of these 
efforts and ensuring we are able to recruit the best and the 
brightest.
    We know there is a challenge--we know this is a challenge 
money alone cannot solve, so today I would like to hear how you 
are thinking out of the box to attract a generation of people 
who don't know of a world without iPhones or the internet. 
Regardless of what is in the news I believe all of us in this 
room want the same thing: We want the strongest possible 
military to defend our Nation and we should work together to 
foster a culture that encourages and rewards excellence, 
creativity, innovation, and critical thinking so our military 
can continue to meet emerging challenges around the globe.
    I, for one, value the importance of public service, be it 
in Active Duty or through civil service. The brave men and 
women of our armed services are an inspiration and I know we 
need to support them and military leadership to invest in our 
people and fully recognize who it is that keeps us safe.
    Thank you to the witnesses again for being here and I will 
yield back the balance of my time.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Kim can be found in the 
Appendix on page 37.]
    Mr. Banks. I thank the ranking member.
    Each witness will have the opportunity to present his or 
her testimony and each member will have an opportunity to 
question the witnesses for 5 minutes. We respectfully ask the 
witnesses to summarize their testimony in 5 minutes or less. 
Your written comments and statements will be made part of the 
hearing record.
    With that, Mr. Vazirani, you may make your opening 
statement.

STATEMENT OF HON. ASHISH S. VAZIRANI, ACTING UNDER SECRETARY OF 
   DEFENSE FOR PERSONNEL AND READINESS, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

    Mr. Vazirani. Morning. Chairman Banks, Ranking Member Kim, 
and distinguished members of the subcommittee, I appreciate the 
opportunity to appear before you this morning along with my 
colleagues to discuss the Department's efforts in this 
challenging recruiting environment and the need for a whole-of-
government approach to increase the propensity of young 
Americans to pursue service to the Nation, particularly through 
the military. The Nation's Armed Forces, staffed by military 
professionals who choose to enlist or commission, is the 
greatest fighting force the world has known and is the bedrock 
of our national security.
    We are here today because the All-Volunteer Force faces one 
of its greatest challenges since inception. In fiscal year 2023 
the military services collectively missed recruiting goals by 
approximately 41,000 recruits, and that number understates the 
challenge before us as the services lowered end-strength goals 
in recent years in part because of the difficult recruiting 
environment.
    The causes of the recruiting challenges we face are complex 
and multifaceted. Some contributing factors are shifts in the 
Nation's economy and population. Others are unique to the 
military. Military recruiting is more difficult when the 
economy is strong because young adults have many more options. 
We are also recruiting from a smaller eligible population. 
Seventy-seven percent of today's youth would not qualify for 
military service without some form of a waiver. In addition, 
more broadly members of Generation Z have low trust in 
institutions and are decreasingly following traditional life 
and career paths. The military is not alone in navigating these 
challenges. Other national service programs--for example, 
AmeriCorps and Peace Corps--have not recovered to pre-pandemic 
levels. College enrollment has also declined. According to a 
recent Wall Street Journal NORC [National Opinion Research 
Center] poll 56 percent of adults said 4-year college was not 
worth the cost.
    From a uniquely military consideration, the creation of the 
All-Volunteer Force 50 years ago set in motion a decades-long 
shift in who serves in our Armed Forces. For example, in 1995, 
40 percent of young people had a parent who served in the 
military. By 2022 that number was down to 12 percent. This has 
led to a disconnect between the military and a large share of 
society.
    About 20 years ago just over a quarter of youth had never 
thought about serving in the military. In recent years more 
than half of youth have never thought about serving in the 
military. Youth of today are not saying no to what the military 
has to offer. They simply don't know much about military 
service. While the picture of the current recruiting 
environment is acutely difficult, the Department and the 
military services are working together to resolve issues, 
improve processes, and expand awareness of the many 
opportunities military service offers.
    With the support of, and authorities provided by, this 
subcommittee, the U.S. military offers an unparalleled value 
proposition for military service. We provide our members with 
competitive pay and benefits, prepare them for career success 
in the military and beyond, and offer a meaningful and 
motivating mission. Our messaging must convey that value 
proposition of military service beyond the tangible benefits 
that aligns with the career values of young people in the labor 
market.
    We must reach today's youth where they are with a message 
that resonates with them and motivates them to act. Our 
marketing campaigns are more complex than in the past. We are 
constantly refining to adapt to the ever-changing digital 
landscape across different media and social media platforms. 
Beyond that we need the help of leaders across the Nation, 
including Members of Congress, to make a national call to 
service, especially for military service, but also for national 
and public service. We need leaders to talk about military 
service with their youth in their communities and ask them to 
learn about and consider serving in the military.
    Overcoming our recruiting challenges requires a national 
response with contributions from across government and the 
private sector. Over the last 50 years, the All-Volunteer Force 
has proven itself to be the best way to maintain a force 
capable of defending our Nation, and with our combined efforts 
I am confident we will remain as such for the foreseeable 
future.
    In closing, I want to thank you and the members of this 
subcommittee for providing the opportunity to address this 
critical issue. I would also like to thank you for your 
continued advocacy on behalf of the women and men of the 
Department of Defense and their families. I look forward to 
your questions and working with the subcommittee to advance our 
shared goals.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Vazirani can be found in the 
Appendix on page 38.]
    Mr. Banks. Thank you.
    Ms. Schaefer.

 STATEMENT OF HON. AGNES GEREBEN SCHAEFER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY 
OF THE ARMY FOR MANPOWER AND RESERVE AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE 
ARMY

    Dr. Schaefer. Chairman Banks, Ranking Member Kim, 
distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the 
opportunity to appear before you on behalf of the men and women 
of the United States Army. I look forward to our discussion 
today regarding the multifaceted root causes of our recruiting 
challenges as well as the data-driven plan that the Army is 
implementing to address those root causes and to transform our 
recruiting enterprise.
    While the efforts of the Army's great recruiting workforce 
and the initiatives put in place over the last 18 months such 
as the ``Future Soldier Prep Course'' and the ``Be All You Can 
Be'' campaign have ensured that our fiscal year 2023 recruiting 
numbers were better than our fiscal year [2022] numbers, there 
is still work to be done.
    In the early summer of 2023, the Secretary of the Army and 
the Chief of Staff of the Army established a team to conduct a 
90-day study to identify ways to transform and modernize the 
Army's recruiting enterprise. The study looked at 25 years' 
worth of recruiting data, identified external and internal root 
causes of the recruiting crisis, examined the recruiting 
structure and performance of our sister services as well as 
best practices from the private sector, and developed 
recommendations for how the Army could transform its recruiting 
enterprise to better position itself as an employer of choice.
    The study team identified the following external causes of 
our current recruiting challenge, many of which factor into 
propensity to serve: declining familiarity with military 
service; declining eligibility; lower propensity to serve in 
the military; declining trust in institutions; a strong 
civilian labor market; labor market participation rates that 
are dropping; higher numbers of youth are enrolling in college 
right out of high school which is shrinking our traditional 
high school prospect market; and COVID-19 caused lower 
productivity for our recruiters due to loss of access to 
schools and also caused learning loss for students which 
decreased eligibility.
    The study team also identified the following internal 
causes of the recruiting challenge: The focus and practices of 
Army recruiters have not adjusted to fundamental shifts in the 
U.S. labor market and the talent needs of the Army. Currently 
Army recruiters are not selected, incentivized, managed, 
developed, or employed in alignment with proven workforce 
management practices.
    The Army has historically prioritized meeting current year 
production targets at the expense of [adapting] to fundamental 
trends in the labor market. This has inhibited the development 
of new markets, methods, and technology to compete for talent.
    The Army has historically not incorporated data collection 
and program evaluation design into recruiting policy, planning, 
and implementation. And the Army's recruiting enterprise 
contains multiple levels of hierarchy and lacks a single point 
of accountability for marketing and recruiting.
    Based on the study's findings and recommendations, in 
October 2023 the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff 
of the Army announced their decision to transform the Army 
recruiting enterprise in five key ways.
    First, the Army will expand the prospect market that it 
focuses on and adjust the methods used to engage with 
prospects.
    Second, the Army will transform how it selects, trains, and 
manages recruiters by beginning a multiyear transformation.
    Third, the Army will create an experimentation capability 
within our Army Recruiting Command to drive innovation, 
generate evidence-based insights, and scale successfully 
innovations across the command.
    Fourth, the Army will establish an evidence-based learning 
capability in the headquarters that will incorporate more data 
collection and program evaluation design into accessions policy 
and planning and implementation.
    And lastly, marketing functions and the entire recruiting 
enterprise will be consolidated and realigned as a proposed 
three-star command that reports directly to the Secretary and 
the Army--Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff of the 
Army.
    Chairman Banks, Ranking Member Kim, distinguished members 
of the subcommittee, thank you again for the opportunity to 
appear before you and share with you how the Army is leaning 
forward to change its recruiting enterprise. I look forward to 
our discussion and your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Dr. Schaefer can be found in the 
Appendix on page 52.]
    Mr. Banks. Mr. Parker.

 STATEMENT OF HON. FRANKLIN R. PARKER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF 
 THE NAVY FOR MANPOWER AND RESERVE AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE 
 NAVY

    Mr. Parker. Chairman Banks, Ranking Member Kim, and 
distinguished members of the subcommittee, I appreciate this 
opportunity to appear before you today on behalf of the 
Department of the Navy to discuss recruiting shortfalls and 
perceptions of the U.S. military.
    Today we are facing our generation's biggest challenge to 
recruit sailors and Marines. COVID protocols and closures kept 
our recruiters out of schools for the better part of 2 years 
denying our access to the most productive recruiting venue. 
Now, low unemployment, a historically competitive labor market, 
and a shrinking pool of eligible candidates makes recruiting 
even more difficult.
    Data shows young people are increasingly unfamiliar with 
military service and do not recognize it as a building block to 
a future career or as a potential career in itself. We must 
reverse this trend. We must better communicate the value of 
military service, how we empower our members to become the most 
successful versions of themselves, and how we imbue them with 
technical, professional, and leadership skills that will 
benefit them throughout their lives and their careers.
    Today's youth seek careers with purpose and opportunity, a 
work environment that is comfortable and respectful, and 
benefits such as work-life balance, job security, and high 
income. Much of today's eligible population is focused on 
building a career foundation early, obtaining higher education, 
gaining job experience, and becoming financially stable. These 
aspirations align well with military service. In addition to 
the intangible benefits of military service--a feeling of 
patriotism, a sense of duty, honor, selfless service, 
camaraderie, purpose, and character development--military 
service offers many more tangible benefits. Stable employment 
in any economy; compensation higher than 90 percent of civilian 
peers of similar age and education; competitive benefits 
packages; a portable retirement program; housing; full medical 
coverage; access to quality affordable child care; morale, 
welfare, and recreation programs; full or part-time 
opportunities; extensive travel opportunities; education 
benefits, both during and after service; loan repayment 
programs; college credit for completed training; transferable 
skill sets; and leadership experience.
    The Department of the Navy already offers generous 
education benefits via the 9/11 GI Bill, tuition assistance, 
and loan repayment programs. Recently we also established the 
United States Naval Community College to bring accessible 
naval-focused education to Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard 
enlisted personnel, enabling our enlisted service members to 
earn associate degrees and stackable professional certificates 
and enhancing the resources available to them.
    We find the greatest deterrence to military service revolve 
around concerns about deployment, service commitment, and 
perceived negative impacts on physical and mental health. Many 
of these concerns reflect the inherent characteristics of 
military service, and maritime service in particular. We ask 
our sailors and Marines to carry out difficult, stressful, and 
potentially dangerous missions and deploy with their units and 
commands around the world, to do what their nation needs when 
and where it is needed.
    To ease this burden we endeavor to provide geographic 
stability, limit permanent change of station moves, and offer 
dual military co-location to the maximum extent feasible while 
incentivizing and rewarding those who take on our most 
challenging assignments. However, none of these efforts matter 
in a recruiting context if we do not effectively tell our story 
and communicate the value of the benefits of military service 
and our unwavering commitment to our people.
    We face a significant challenge, but we are tackling it 
head on as we do with any mission. I remain inspired by the 
exceptional and exhaustive work of our Navy and Marine Corps 
recruiters, but they cannot do it alone.
    We need your support, both in Congress and in your 
districts, to communicate the value of military service as an 
unmatched opportunity for life skills, leadership development, 
and a well-earned sense of pride and accomplishment that 
positions our members for successful lives, both professionally 
and personally.
    On behalf of Secretary Del Toro and the senior leadership 
of the Department of the Navy, the United States Navy, and the 
United States Marine Corps, thank you for helping us address 
these challenges. I look forward to working with you to 
meaningfully support our service members and their families, to 
communicate the value of military service, and to foster an 
environment where young Americans can see a future for 
themselves through service.
    Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today 
and I look forward to your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Parker can be found in the 
Appendix on page 59.]
    Mr. Banks. Mr. Wagner.

 STATEMENT OF HON. ALEX WAGNER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE AIR 
 FORCE FOR MANPOWER AND RESERVE AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR 
 FORCE

    Mr. Wagner. Chairman Banks, Ranking Member Kim, 
distinguished members and staff of the subcommittee, I am proud 
to testify today about the Department of the Air Force's 
efforts to inspire and attract talent from across the United 
States in order to remain the most lethal, effective, and 
collaborative force possible, one that deters our adversaries 
and inspires the confidence of the American people.
    Today's youth must view us as an employer of choice as well 
as recognize that service in the Air and Space Forces offers a 
rare value proposition. It provides opportunity, it provides 
community, and it provides a sense of purpose. After 22 years 
of war, with that sacrifice born largely by those who fought 
and their families, the vast majority of today's youth are 
unfamiliar with the military. As Mr. Vazirani noted, 30 years 
ago, when I was in high school, 40 percent of youth had a 
parent that served, but today that number is under 13 percent, 
along with the lack of awareness of the benefits and 
opportunities of military life.
    This combined with historically low unemployment, a strong 
private sector wage growth, concerns about the risks of 
military service, COVID's impact on school access, all has 
turned into a perfect storm creating the most challenging 
recruiting environment for our high-tech service since the 
height of the ``dot-com boom'' nearly a quarter of a century 
ago.
    We consider fiscal year 2022 our first post-COVID 
recruiting year, and although both the Air and Space Forces met 
their Active Duty enlisted recruiting goals, the Air Force did 
so by borrowing into our Delayed Entry Program, known as our 
DEP. As a result we recognize that we would be relying on a 
lower DEP to start fiscal year 2023, and so we took decisive 
action.
    In January we convened a cross-functional team to look 
under the hood and understand where our policies could be 
brought into better alignment with either updated DOD accession 
standards or the successful policies of our sister services. 
With a North Star principle of maintaining top quality talent 
we sought to ensure we were in sync with our rapidly changing 
population. Examples include aligning our body composition 
standard with the DOD standard, allowing in recruits with small 
hand and neck tattoos for the first time, and taking a fresh 
look at our forever ban that kept recruits who tested positive 
for THC [tetrahydrocannabinol/marijuana] from reapplying.
    After evaluating the Army's experience with THC retesting, 
the DAF [Department of the Air Force] authorized a 2-year pilot 
program and paired it with heightened academic requirements. In 
sum, these and other efforts resulted in approximately 2,900 
new enlisted accessions in fiscal year 2023. That is 2,900 
high-quality individuals with a propensity to serve that would 
have otherwise been excluded.
    Let me state unequivocally that the DAF has not changed our 
high standards, nor compromised the caliber of our applicants. 
What we have done is simply expand the opportunity for 
qualified individuals to join our ranks.
    These efforts allowed us to begin fiscal year 2024 with an 
Active Duty Air Force DEP that exceeded our goal, the strongest 
of any service. Paired with filling 100 percent of our weekly 
basic training slots, I can say that we are cautiously 
optimistic that we will achieve our Active Duty Air Force and 
Space Force enlisted accession goals in fiscal year 2024.
    But to continue that momentum now and into the future we 
are going to need your help. As trusted leaders in your 
communities we ask that you ramp up your efforts to engage your 
constituents and advocate for the opportunities that military 
service provides, the community that awaits, and the sense of 
purpose that lasts a lifetime. A stronger partnership will go a 
long way to shift the narratives away from the perceived risks 
of military service supercharging our recruiting efforts and 
grow young Americans' interest in the military.
    With your support we will continue to build a team of teams 
taking advantage of the dynamic fabric of our Nation and 
transforming our young women and men into airmen and guardians 
who exemplify and defend the ideals and freedoms upon which our 
country was founded. With that, I am looking forward to your 
questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Wagner can be found in the 
Appendix on page 70.]
    Mr. Banks. Thank you to all of you for your opening 
testimony. I yield myself 5 minutes to begin questions.
    In February the Associated Press obtained a summary of the 
Army's Pulse Survey which ranked the top barriers to 
recruitment based on public polling. Representative Waltz and I 
asked the Army to send us the underlying data, and we never got 
it. The Army said that they had hired an outside polling firm 
with confidential methods, so instead of the actual poll they 
sent us a vague summary.
    Dr. Schaefer, what is the point of paying for a poll about 
recruiting if you can't share the data with the policy makers 
who are trying to actually fix the recruitment crisis?
    Dr. Schaefer. I will look into that. I wasn't aware that 
you didn't receive it.
    Mr. Banks. Okay. We appreciate you looking into that. And 
as I said, we have asked for it. We never got it.
    Dr. Schaefer, I don't think the Army's survey was actually 
meant to fix recruiting though. I think it was a PR [public 
relations] stunt. Congress got the survey summary after the 
Associated Press reported about it. And here is the Associated 
Press' headline, quote, ``Army sees safety, not `wokeness' as 
top recruiting obstacle.'' So it really feels like it is--this 
is a PR move, not a move in good faith working with the 
committee of jurisdiction and oversight that is tasked with 
helping you address this major issue of the day. So I wasn't 
surprised to find the actual polling data recently that 
actually tells a very different story from the polling data 
that you guys released and worked with the AP to publish.
    And to be transparent I am going to enter the findings and 
the cross-tabs from a nationwide poll of military veterans by 
the American Principles Project into the Congressional Record 
so that you and anyone else in the public can actually access 
these results.
    [The information referred to was not available at the time 
of printing.]
    Mr. Banks. This poll, which we can all read, found that 73 
percent of veterans believe that the U.S. military has become 
too political regarding race, gender, and sexuality. Even 
worse, a quarter of the veterans would tell a young person not 
to enlist and when those veterans were asked to explain why in 
their own words, the most common reason was politics.
    So why do you think those results are so different between 
the Army Pulse Survey and another publicly available survey? 
Why would it tell a different story?
    Dr. Schaefer. I am not familiar with the survey that you 
are referring to. It may be sample size questions. I am just 
not sure. But I will say that we are looking across these 
surveys. And I am worried about all of those barriers that they 
cite, and so I don't think we should--again this is a 
multifaceted issue and I think we need to have a multifaceted 
solution that addresses those concerns or misperceptions that 
people have. So I welcome any additional----
    Mr. Banks. So this really recent survey says that clearly 
politics, DEI, ``wokeness,'' is a problem. What is the Army 
doing to change that perception about politics being a 
recruitment barrier?
    Dr. Schaefer. Well, I think all of us in the military--all 
of us share this responsibility to be apolitical.
    Mr. Banks. What is the Army doing about it?
    Dr. Schaefer. So I mean we are demonstrating that we are 
being apolitical.
    Mr. Banks. How?
    Dr. Schaefer. Our policies are really centered around our 
service members; maintaining readiness, first and foremost; 
quality of life issues; and trying to really get the message 
out about again the value of service.
    Mr. Banks. So you are telling us that you are trying to 
express that the Army is apolitical, but how are you doing it? 
How are you doing that differently? How are you doing that to 
address the issue that so many people are claiming is a real 
reason that people aren't joining the Army----
    Dr. Schaefer. So I am not sure why there is an underlying 
perception that we are political. I don't know what that is. 
And I think we need to dig into that more.
    Mr. Banks. Interesting. Dr. Schaefer, four out of five 
recruits come from military families and these veterans are 
saying the military is too left wing and political and they are 
telling their relatives not to enlist because of it. I mean, 
would you disagree that wokeness is a top recruiting obstacle 
for the Army?
    Dr. Schaefer. If people have that perception I think that 
we need to address it. Again, the data that we have seen 
indicates that it is not one of the top concerns. The top 
concerns remain concern about injury----
    Mr. Banks. But you just said----
    Dr. Schaefer [continuing]. Fatality.
    Mr. Banks [continuing]. You agree that if it is a 
perception we have to address it.
    Dr. Schaefer. Yes, I mean, I think that if there are issues 
out there that people are concerned about, this gets at the 
sort of disconnection between the country and the military 
right now, which I am extremely concerned about. I talked about 
this at my confirmation 2 years ago, confirmation hearing. We 
need to find ways to reestablish those ties to the country. And 
if people have concerns, I think that we need to address them.
    Mr. Banks. Okay. I ask for unanimous consent to include 
into the record the OnMessage survey to make it publicly 
available.
    [The information referred to can be found in the Appendix 
on page 81.]
    Mr. Banks. And Without objection, so ordered.
    I yield to Ranking Member Kim.
    Mr. Kim. Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. I mean, look, I agree 
with you, Mr. Chairman, about the need for data and I hope to 
be able to work with you all in terms of being able to get that 
and try to make sure we are being thoughtful and pragmatic. But 
I will be honest with you, Mr. Chair, just dropping a survey 
that we have never seen before into a public hearing--give us 
an opportunity to really think this through and figure out what 
kind of message and what kind of information we are providing 
to the American people, making sure that it is rigorous and 
credible.
    So I just hope that going forward we can try to do that 
together. And I am willing to work with you and work hopefully 
with the DOD to make sure we have that kind of information that 
we know we can go off of and make real determinations on rather 
than just trying to drop things at the last second here.
    Going forward, look, Assistant Secretary Schaefer, I 
appreciate in your testimony you talked through five points you 
said that you are trying to change going forward. And that is 
something I wanted to dig at a little bit more because, look, 
we are seeing the challenges across all sectors of the 
workforce right now in the country, all industries right now, 
about recruitment and being able to bring people in.
    So I guess I wanted to ask you, in terms of those what are 
you learning? What specifically are you drawing from in terms 
of best practices, whether they are from other government 
agencies, but also from the private sector in order to 
understand how we are going to be able to take on new 
innovative practices when it comes to recruitment? I 
appreciated some of the details you provided, but I want to 
just know what specifically can you layer on top of that to 
give us an understanding of best practices here?
    Dr. Schaefer. Thank you for that question. So we did look 
at best practices from industry. We met with large companies, 
small companies to get a sense of how they are recruiting and 
how they are connecting with Gen Z. And I think we have done a 
lot of work on kind of the expectations that Gen Z has. And so 
clearly they are looking for purpose in their careers. That is 
what we keep hearing. And we have that in spades.
    They are looking for flexible career paths which would 
cause us to sort of shift away from our hierarchical, siloed 
career paths that we currently have to more of a jungle gym 
model, which is what they are looking for. So we are trying to 
infuse some more of that flexibility.
    They talk about the importance--Gen Z is very interested in 
the relationship with their recruiters. That is very important 
to them. So we are making a shift towards a professionalized 
recruiting force which has been industry standard. Right now we 
are working off of a borrowed manpower model in which we pull 
people from different specialties to become recruiters.
    And we are looking actually at the other services as well. 
And one of the things that makes the Marine Corps so effective 
in recruiting is that recruiting is a path to leadership in the 
Marine Corps. You have to be a recruiter in order to----
    Mr. Kim. Yes.
    Dr. Schaefer [continuing]. Become the Commandant or the 
ACMC [Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps].
    Mr. Kim. Yes.
    Dr. Schaefer. And so that is how you bring in your best and 
brightest. And so we are working on revamping the career paths 
for recruiters as well.
    Mr. Kim. Thank you. Assistant Secretary Parker and Wagner, 
I want to ask you--a lot of it we talked about bringing in new 
people into the fold, but what we know is that a lot of people 
who join the services have family members or are from military 
families. So I guess I wanted to just ask you what specifically 
are you all doing in terms of that kind of outreach and 
communication to military families to try to address some of 
these concerns that they may or may not have?
    So we will start with Mr. Parker.
    Mr. Parker. Thank you, Ranking Member Kim. We are 
definitely trying to reach out to families and to influencers, 
influencers being teachers and----
    Mr. Kim. Is there a particular cohort, a particular section 
of the recruitment element that is specifically for military 
families?
    Mr. Parker. That is an area that we are definitely trying 
to reach into both through digital media and also with 
increasing access to schools as well, which helps us get access 
to those influencers also. And so, we are trying to reach out 
in every way that we can. We recruit in every ZIP Code, and so 
that allows us to provide recruiters----
    Mr. Kim. So but just to my point, like, is there a specific 
team, a specific component of recruiters that are specific to 
military families?
    Mr. Parker. I am not aware of a specific team of recruiters 
that are focused on military families, but I know it is an 
effort that we are trying to reach into to make sure we are 
helping to inform military families and also those other 
influencers.
    Mr. Kim. Yeah, look, let's follow back up. I know I am out 
of time, but I will follow back up with each of you because I 
think that that is really critical in terms of how we engage. 
Thank you and I yield back.
    Mr. Banks. Mr. Gaetz.
    Mr. Gaetz. Secretary Wagner, I want to start by commending 
you on the waivers that have allowed 2,900 Americans to express 
their patriotic service in the military and not allowing one 
instance of THC use or one positive test result to forever 
impair that service. It is something I have worked on in a 
bipartisan way with members of this committee, and frankly I 
don't even know that it should necessitate a waiver. I hope 
that the good results you are getting from those airmen will 
allow us to make even more progress on that front.
    Mr. Wagner. Thank you, Congressman. We didn't do this in a 
vacuum. The Army commissioned a RAND study to make sure the 
quality of those who they accessed as a result of their waiver 
process was still high. We put on additional restrictions 
during our pilot program. The Navy is also using a similar OSD 
[Office of the Secretary of Defense] authority in order to 
waive----
    Mr. Gaetz. Yeah, I get the sense that these aren't--that it 
is not being implemented exactly the same way in every service 
branch. I don't know if that should concern us. Maybe best 
practices will emerge. But I do want to move on----
    Mr. Wagner. In 2 years we will have really solid data and 
we will definitely come back to----
    Mr. Gaetz. Terrific.
    Mr. Wagner [continuing]. You and this committee----
    Mr. Gaetz. I look forward to it. So there is this September 
5, 2023 piece in Air & Space Forces magazine and it is titled 
in part, ``Why Diversity Should `Scare the Hell Out of Our 
Adversaries.''' And I have never seen the fear in someone's eye 
when they are confronted with diversity, but you are quoted in 
that piece saying that you don't think the military is 
political. And we just heard Chairman Banks go over this 
feeling in the veteran community, which is such a critical 
referral source, that the military is political.
    So I will give you the opportunity to address the question 
that was asked to Ms. Schaefer.
    Mr. Wagner. Right. So, Congressmen, members of the 
committee who come to work every day, politics is--partisan 
politics never figures into----
    Mr. Gaetz. Okay. Hold on. Never is a strong word. Go ahead 
and put up the text from Minot Air Force Base.
    [The information referred to can be found in the Appendix 
on page 101.]
    Mr. Wagner. That I am familiar with.
    Mr. Gaetz. I am sure you are familiar with this. At Minot 
Air Force Base this message goes out and service members are 
told that if they go to a Turning Point conference that that 
could jeopardize their continued service in the U.S. military. 
Doesn't strike me that it is never political because that seems 
like a blatantly political threat against people's service.
    Mr. Wagner. Congressman, so the good news is this was 
looked into and as I understand the facts--and I believe a 
letter was delivered to you yesterday from the Commander of Air 
Force Global Strike Command--first, this was based on incorrect 
information from a master sergeant that sent a text in 
unofficial channels to his peer group. The text was then 
forwarded to the medical squadron. Within an hour, within an 
hour of that text being forwarded, the unit--the squadron 
commander first, corrected it; second, noted it was a local 
political fundraiser; third, clarified that there were no 
issues----
    [Crosstalk.]
    Mr. Gaetz [continuing]. It's a conference. Hold on, hold 
on, hold on. I have been to these. They are not really 
fundraisers. They are conferences for people who want to come 
together and share their views on politics.
    Mr. Wagner. I believe the Patriot----
    Mr. Gaetz. Right. Right.
    Mr. Wagner [continuing]. The Patriot rally was a 
fundraiser. There was a speaker from Turning Point----
    Mr. Gaetz. But this is the Turning Point----
    Mr. Wagner [continuing]. Who was at the [inaudible] rally.
    Mr. Gaetz [continuing]. Action event. I mean you are not 
saying that service members impair their opportunity to be in 
the Air Force by going to a Turning Point Action event, right?
    Mr. Wagner. Absolutely not. And in fact----
    Mr. Gaetz. So your argument is that----
    Mr. Wagner [continuing]. Rally was--had a speaker from 
Turning Point.
    Mr. Gaetz [continuing]. This was a master sergeant who put 
out this text message improperly, right?
    Mr. Wagner. Based on incorrect information.
    Mr. Gaetz. Right. That was then corrected.
    Mr. Wagner. Immediately by squadron leadership.
    Mr. Gaetz. That is a success story except insomuch as it 
creates this theory or that people might not get formally 
reprimanded under some formal rule, but that there is a 
cultural shift right now in the military that would even have 
someone think they could send a threat like this out. I mean, 
so don't you think--I mean, because when you say it is never 
political, that seems to run afoul of this. There are times 
when these--this politics emerges and we kind of got to play 
whack-a-mole to ensure that we have an apolitical fighting 
force, but I mean doesn't that concern you?
    Mr. Wagner. The way I read the text, Congressman, it 
appears that the security forces master sergeant was acting on 
incorrect information, didn't thoroughly vet it----
    Mr. Gaetz. How does that happen? How does someone end up 
acting on that incorrect information and then disseminating a 
message like this?
    Mr. Wagner. Well, as I understand it was an informal text 
sent to members of his peer group.
    Mr. Gaetz. Are you familiar with the matter of Oscar 
Rodriguez who goes to a retirement ceremony; he wants to 
reflect on God and faith in that retirement ceremony with the 
U.S. Air Force and then is removed forcibly from the ceremony 
for making mention of God? Is that something--a case you are 
familiar with?
    Mr. Wagner. Congressman, I am sorry, this is the first 
time----
    Mr. Gaetz. Okay. Great. Well, I seek unanimous consent to 
enter this Breitbart Reporting into the record on the matter, 
Mr. Chairman. And again, just another example where I know we 
got to play whack-a-mole, but when people feel as though 
attending a Turning Point event or referencing God might bring 
some punishment on them, that can impact some of the recruiting 
we are talking about.
    Mr. Banks. Without objection.
    [The information referred to can be found in the Appendix 
on page 102.]
    Mr. Gaetz. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yield back.
    Mr. Banks. Ms. Houlahan.
    Ms. Houlahan. Thank you for the opportunity to speak about 
this subject. I think for the third time this committee has 
spent time on this issue of recruitment, but really the 
conversation is about the politicization of the military.
    When I served in the military I was a registered 
Independent because I had been raised by my father and my 
grandfather to not express or articulate my political views in 
any ways while serving in Active Duty. And the thing that I am 
struggling with right now is the fact that we have been given 
this piece of survey with unknown provenance and with 50-plus 
questions to be able to process without any advance notice.
    I had the opportunity to read a few of these questions and 
I would question the interpretation of said questions. An 
example would be question number 14. ``In your own words, why 
wouldn't you encourage a young person to join the military?'' 
Only 3.8 percent of the responses were ``wokeism.'' The 
chairman indicated that there was an indication that that was 
somehow connected with politics or political climate. That was 
a separate response. And that response was indeed 16.7 percent.
    That doesn't reflect anything about a person's political 
affiliations, whether maybe they are a Democrat, a Republican, 
an Independent. I can tell you that while I served Active Duty 
I felt as though the military, my peers were too political as 
well. So I would have responded in that way to this question.
    Another question was question 15. ``Please tell me if you 
agree or disagree with the following statement: Recently the 
U.S. military has become too political with regard to things 
like racial equity and gay and trans issues.'' I also would 
have responded to this as a Democrat, yes, it was too political 
because leaders like these are standing in places like these 
and politicizing our military rather than really thinking about 
the service and the requirements, the quality of life of people 
who are raising their hand to protect and defend.
    Another question, question 9, says ``In your opinion what 
is the single most important issue facing the military today?'' 
The single most important issue, if you summarize, is 
``leadership'' and ``recruitment'' and ``retention.'' That 
would comprise about 28 percent of the responses. If I look for 
those things that this panel on the right side is looking for, 
1.7 percent--1.7 percent--said ``Joe Biden,'' 0.3 percent said 
``Democrats,'' 0.3 percent said ``liberal issues,'' 0.3 percent 
said ``requiring vaccination.'' So if we are really going to 
hone in on these 50-plus questions of information, we need to 
be thoughtful in the way that we interpret the data.
    As somebody who not only served in the military but is also 
an engineer and a STEM [science, technology, engineering, and 
mathematics] professional, it really matters what questions we 
ask. It really matters how we interpret those questions.
    And I am kind of sickened by the fact that we are now the 
third time having this conversation about recruiting. And 
rather than actually listening to the genuine experts here who 
are saying it is complicated, because indeed it is complicated, 
we are still marching out these kinds of Breitbart--the 
provenance unknown questionnaires. I am enormously frustrated 
that this committee has not spent its time really thinking 
about the quality-of-life issues that our men and women and 
those who are thinking about being part of the service are 
facing.
    And I have no questions. I am just going to yield back the 
remainder of my time.
    Mr. Banks. Representative Bergman.
    Mr. Bergman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Today's kids are 
glued to their phones. They receive their news from social 
media apps: YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, et cetera. 
These apps use algorithms that send these kids down rabbit 
holes showing nonstop videos of let's say mold-infested 
barracks and other failures of our military. I am going to ask 
you to take this for the record.
    What steps are each of the services taking to basically 
combat the issue of the--let's just say misinformation? For 
whatever reason it is--some of the younger generation think it 
is entertaining. This is the entertained generation and we 
can't expect anything different. But I would like to know what 
steps you are using, if any--and the answer might be no--to 
combat the negative press, if you will, the negative influence 
that the young age-eligible military--potential military 
accessions might be consuming.
    Now during the senior enlisted perspective hearing on March 
the 9th, we discussed the lack of propensity to serve. I mean, 
there is enough data out there that says, okay, there is a 
lower number of young people being--and influencers who say you 
should at least spend a little bit of time in the military. At 
that hearing I had asked each service to take for the record if 
their recruiters are being welcomed by the schools--and we are 
largely talking high schools here, not colleges, high schools--
by the Board of Education, the teachers, the counselors, the 
coaches, et cetera.
    Assistant Secretary Parker, the response I received from 
Department of the Navy was ``some high schools only allow 
access once a year.'' Again, how many high schools in the 
Navy's recruiting locations are restricting access? And we are 
going to take this--again, take it for the record, because I am 
guessing you don't have those numbers at your fingertips. How 
many high schools in the Navy's recruiting locations, or 
however they are spread out, because your recruiters travel, 
are restricting access? And what can we do to ensure that you 
and every service have as much access as possible?
    When you look at the total number of accessions, officer 
and enlisted, is it a fair statement to say that if you got 100 
percent of the numbers you are trying to recruit, the majority 
of those are enlisted? Is that a true statement? You don't have 
to say it. Just a head nod will be fine.
    So when you think about that, we can, or you can, develop 
the tactics, techniques, and procedures, as we would say, to 
focus on that--and I am guessing you are probably talking 
anywhere after the age of 16 or 17--to get into the minds of 
those fine young men and women who quite honestly at that age 
really are clueless about how the big world really works and 
what opportunities could be good, bad, or indifferent for them 
after high school. I believe we are missing a great opportunity 
here to focus our resources and where we can help, especially 
under Chairman Banks' leadership.
    This subcommittee has for the past year tried to work with 
the Department of Defense and all the services to see what we 
can do to help you get the job done, and not only get the 
numbers up, but get the--yes, it is about the number, but if 
you access the wrong people, they are not going to make it 
through MEPS [Military Entry Processing Stations], they are not 
going to make it through basic training, they are not going to 
go on. So it is about lighting the fire inside those hearts and 
minds of those young people so that they will say, hmm, I think 
I would like to talk to the recruiter again.
    I believe we are missing an opportunity here to work 
together. And time wasted is time lost. With that, Mr. 
Chairman, I yield back.
    Mr. Banks. Ms. Escobar.
    Ms. Escobar. Good morning and many thanks to our panelists 
for all of your work, for the time that you have taken to 
assess how to best meet the challenge that we face today, and 
for articulating just how complex and multifaceted this issue 
really is.
    I want to associate myself with the comments that my 
colleague Ms. Houlahan made. This is my third term in Congress 
and I have been privileged to serve on the House Armed Services 
Committee for each one of those terms. And I have served on 
this subcommittee from the beginning of my tenure in Congress.
    I long for the days that we really collaborated and worked 
together on addressing the real issues that are facing the 
United States Military and our Active Duty service members, but 
as Ms. Houlahan stated, instead there--this seems to have 
become a vehicle for promoting Breitbart News and agendas 
around politics. It really is no wonder that so many people 
think that Congress can't get anything done. For the last year 
we have not been addressing real issues. In fact, that may be 
why the chairman had to create a separate Quality of Life Panel 
so that we could try to get our work done through that vehicle.
    I will say, Ms. Schaefer, thank you for the time that you 
have spent talking to me. I am so privileged to represent Fort 
Bliss and am in frequent communication with our Army leadership 
and with Active Duty service members, and we have had great 
conversations around how to address this challenge that we 
face. It is no doubt a real challenge.
    But I think a couple things that I want to remind us of--
number one, as a member of the Armed Services Committee I have 
had an opportunity to travel abroad and as I have talked to our 
friends and allies around the world they too are facing 
recruitment challenges. This is not an America-only issue. And 
frankly, the more time we waste on the bizarre focus that we 
have seen this Congress, the less time we have to truly think 
through real answers.
    Ms. Schaefer, you and I--just so that I can articulate this 
publicly, you and I had conversations about how to really 
connect with younger people. What I hear in my district, 
especially when it comes time for my conversations with high 
schools and younger people, they frequently tell me I wish I 
had known about the military sooner.
    And I know there are limitations around recruitment and 
age, but there are really creatives ways that I have seen 
employed by military leadership in my community, ways to really 
connect with grade schools, with younger students so that they 
get a glimpse of what their future could look like and the 
options that do exist. Because unless they are familiar--and 
many of you talked about familiarity as an issue--unless you 
are familiar, unless you have a relative, unless you have 
friends, unless you are exposed to the opportunities around 
military service, frequently it just--it is not a 
consideration.
    And I look forward to those continued conversations. I 
don't have a question. This is the third time we do this so 
that we can talk about wokeness in the military. We will 
continue to have our one-on-one conversations and through the 
Quality of Life Panel so that we truly can be successful in 
this arena. Thank you all for all of your work and service.
    Mr. Banks. Mr. Waltz. Sorry. Mr. Moylan.
    Mr. Moylan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Often folks from Guam 
are recognized for their unusually high rates of military 
service. And young people continue to enlist, and a large 
portion of my constituents are also veterans. And I myself am a 
product of the University of Guam Army ROTC [Reserve Officers' 
Training Corps] program, which really helped me out, by the 
way. So despite we have some great enthusiasm for enlistment 
for our services, there are opportunity shortfalls that we 
experience from our prospective recruits in Guam.
    For example, historically Guam was only able to submit four 
nominees for our service academies compared to five nominees 
other jurisdictions are entitled to. So I had a bill out there; 
it is called the Guam Service Academy Equality Act, which I am 
very happy and pleased that it was incorporated into the NDAA 
[National Defense Authorization Act] as a fix. So this issue 
gives bright young students from Guam a fair opportunity to 
serve in the military, which I continue to advocate for.
    There's other opportunities out there, especially regarding 
the four military services, especially regarding the Army's 
Future Soldier Preparatory Course.
    So, Secretary Schaefer, you mentioned briefly about it. I 
just want to hear you expand upon this as well. For the Future 
Soldier Preparatory Course, how it helps the Army recruit new 
soldiers and is the--and my biggest question is the opportunity 
available for students at Guam.
    Dr. Schaefer. Thank you for that question, sir. So we 
instituted the Future Soldier Prep Course as a way to sort of 
open the aperture. We realized that there were eligibility 
issues and we wanted to help more folks meet our standards. And 
so there is a physical piece as well as an academic piece. And 
we have seen--it has been very successful so far. We have had 
about 10,000 participants so far. There's been a 95 percent 
graduation rate. And we have seen both body fat composition 
decrease so they can make our physical standards, as well as 
ASVAB [Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery] scores 
increase.
    So this was originally a pilot. It was only offered at Fort 
Jackson. And earlier this year we expanded it to Fort Benning. 
So those are the only two places right now where it is 
available, but it is available to anyone who is eligible.
    Mr. Moylan. I think it is very helpful, especially for 
those that want to increase their testing results and look at 
other things they could qualify for, and especially moving it 
up through the senior ranks, but more importantly get them into 
the officer corps as well with the academy.
    So we want to recruit--as we heard here to recruit the best 
and the brightest and want to advocate for these opportunities 
that are available so we can strengthen our forces. So I thank 
you all for being here today. Thank you.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
    Mr. Banks. Ms. Tokuda.
    Ms. Tokuda. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
    In reviewing the testimony today it was not immediately 
obvious to me that the Department and the services are 
uniformly recruiting in a way for the service members that we 
need for the battlefields that we expect in the future. The 
perception of military service and what it means to be a 
service member seems to be based on what was, very different 
from what it means to serve today, and especially going forward 
into the future. That includes service members that not only 
reflect the diversity of our country, but also the interests 
and the skill sets that will allow us to fight more effectively 
across all domains, including intelligence, space, and cyber.
    I am also worried that given the past and current 
challenges in meeting our recruitment goals coupled with 
attrition that we are facing a growing gap in our ranks and 
that will overall impact our readiness posture, especially as 
we enter critical periods of intense strategic competition and 
potential campaigns amongst multiple theaters.
    To the entire panel today, would you please elaborate on 
how your department is thinking about recruitment in the long 
term, especially to ensure that we are going to be bringing on 
the type of recruits that can meet the challenges we will face 
in the future? And are we seeking to fill the gaps through 
potentially untraditional recruiting methods or recruits? You 
mentioned a few, but for example, older recruits, college 
graduates, working Americans looking to up-skill or re-skill. 
So you can elaborate on that, please.
    Mr. Vazirani. Representative Tokuda, if I may start, as we 
look at building for our national defense we recognize that 
people are really at the core. They are the foundation of our 
national defense. And we continue to look for the best and the 
brightest.
    And so the way that we are continuing to expand that is 
thinking about, one, how do we appeal to those young people who 
have these varied interests to continue to have programs that 
develop the workforce? So we have programs that are developing 
STEM. For example, STARBASE programs, which help to develop the 
STEM field and grow that part of the workforce. We also look to 
create greater levels of thought diversity, geographic 
diversity, racial diversity, gender diversity so that we can 
draw from the best and brightest of America.
    And so in doing that we have expanded our outreach and the 
work that we do through our marketing programs to connect with 
young people with authenticity in a transparent manner. That 
requires multichannel marketing. It requires a level of 
frequency that will break through the noise that many of these 
young people--and we heard from a number of the committee 
members that there is a lot of--how young people gather their 
information, all of that noise. So we have to break through 
that. And by doing that we have to spell out the value 
proposition of how young people can start a profession in the 
military.
    The military is a great opportunity to either start a 
career, carry out a career, or launch a career because many 
people develop through the military, whether it is getting 
technical skills or leadership skills. So that is one of the 
things that we are doing from an OSD perspective. And that 
feeds into the way the services engage with young people as 
well.
    And I will defer to my colleagues to talk specifically 
about what each military service is doing.
    Dr. Schaefer. Thank you so much for that question. So when 
I started at RAND 16 years ago I started out as a strategist, 
and I bring that--I am at my core a strategist, so I am 
thinking about the long game on this. And right now I am 
building the Army of 2030 and 2040, and so I am thinking about 
the skill sets that we need as we pivot to multidomain 
operations and how do we effectively maintain our readiness as 
we do that?
    So we are opening our--one of the things in our 
transformation is that we opening the aperture on our prospect 
market because we realize that we need higher level skill sets 
for cyber and these kinds of things. We have a cyber JROTC 
[Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps] pilot in which we are 
trying to help citizenship and also expose folks to the 
opportunities in the Army for things--so these are the kinds of 
things we are doing.
    Ms. Tokuda. Thank you, and I appreciate it. I am sure I 
will get the responses from the others, perhaps later at 
another time, but in the interest of time, I completely agree 
with you, Ms. Schaefer. We are looking for higher level skill 
sets. So I do think we need to expand our market not just to 
high school students, which I think is important, and college 
students, but also those that have perhaps left higher 
education, are now in the workforce, because those are valued 
skill sets and individuals that could really start to fill the 
gaps that we are seeing now.
    I did want to touch upon one more thing. In the testimony, 
it was noted that 33 percent were disinterested in military 
service due to the possibility of sexual harassment and 
assault, one in three. Discrimination, we look back at old 
records, 2017, 31 percent of Black service members, 25 percent 
of Asian service members, said that they had been harassed or 
assaulted during their service time. This is something we can 
control. We can't control whether they think they are getting 
paid enough or they are worried about physical or mental harm, 
but not being assaulted, discriminated, sexually abused, that 
is something within our purview, so I would like to know 
exactly what we are doing to eliminate this as one of the 
deterrents we are facing to recruiting people into our military 
service. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I yield back.
    Mr. Banks. Mr. Waltz.
    Mr. Waltz. Thank you, Mr. Chair, for again, digging into 
this important topic. And I think we have heard some 
statistics, some grumbling on the other side of the aisle that 
we are having another wokeness hearing. I just want to restate 
again that when cadets, military families, Active Duty members 
stop bringing us these issues, then we will stop talking about 
it. But as long as they are, we have a duty to address these 
issues.
    So I want to just talk about data and what data you have or 
don't have because what I am looking at just along those lines 
that I just discussed is a poll, nearly 7 in 10 Active service 
members have witnessed politicization in the military. We have 
another poll from Heritage that 68 percent have witnessed 
significant or somewhat political activity in the military. We 
have 63 percent of Active Duty members say they would not 
recommend their child to join. That is a double hit. That could 
be a retention issue and a recruiting issue. We have a report 
on the National Independent Panel of Military Service and 
Readiness. We have the Reagan Institute where the Secretary of 
Defense and Chairman just spoke. Perceived politicization 
drives declining confidence in the military. The top response 
is military leadership becoming--military leadership becoming 
overly politicized with 62 percent. This includes 60 percent of 
registered Democrats, 60 percent of Independents, 65 percent of 
Republicans saying that this leadership is over-politicizing 
what should be an apolitical body. That is an issue. And we 
have to address that issue.
    So I asked last year all of the vices, many are now the 
chiefs, and all of the senior enlisted advisors if they had any 
data polling focus groups for recruits and why they are not 
joining and what is going--we have a lot of narratives that you 
have all espoused, COVID, declining bodies, what have you, but 
does anyone disagree with the vice chiefs that you don't have 
regular polling and regular focus groups?
    Mr. Vazirani. Representative Waltz, we do regular polling 
through our JAMRS [Joint Advertising Market Research and 
Studies]. We look at and we engage with young people to 
understand what drives propensity and why they would not serve. 
For example, for reasons why they serve, they join for pay and 
for money and for education and for the benefits and for travel 
and for health benefits, all those positive things. But the 
reasons why they choose not to serve is----
    Mr. Waltz. That is polling people that join. I am looking 
at a recruit that may have signed up, that may have clicked, 
may have talked, and then didn't.
    Mr. Vazirani. Representative, we are actually looking at 
the community of people who are--that were going out to recruit 
and trying to understand what drives them. As well--and so why 
are reasons not to join, fear of injury or death, the risk of 
post-traumatic stress.
    Mr. Waltz. What date is this poll? Because all your vice 
chiefs, now chiefs, said we don't do it. And now I have got 
think tanks that are doing it.
    Mr. Vazirani. So Chairman, I would be happy--I mean 
Representative Waltz, I would be happy to come and brief you on 
this research. It is research that we do annually and 
continuously in geographic markets.
    Mr. Waltz. Why is the military leadership unaware of it? 
Why can't they speak to it, including the senior enlisted 
advisors?
    Mr. Vazirani. You know, Representative, I will take that 
on. That should be my responsibility.
    Mr. Waltz. Okay, so let me ask you this just in the little 
bit of time I have remaining. I don't mean to cut you off. Why 
do we have, with the Army in a recruiting crisis, a 50-year 
low, what drove, what data drove ``The Calling,'' which was a 
cartoon of a young lady with two moms that basically, you know, 
said--and then she joined. Is there a body of LGBTQ [lesbian, 
gay, bisexual, transgender, queer] or of service members with 
LGBTQ parents that we were targeting? And if so, what was that 
target audience and how many then joined?
    Ms. Schaefer.
    Dr. Schaefer. Sir, this predated me. I am familiar with the 
commercial, but I don't know the genesis of it or why they----
    Mr. Waltz. Wasn't that the main recruiting effort for the 
Army for at least a year because it has now shifted?
    Dr. Schaefer. ``The Calling'' was before me.
    Mr. Wagner. Congressman, if I could jump in on this?
    Mr. Waltz. Sure.
    Mr. Wagner. Two years, 2022 and 2021, of Gallup polling 
nationally shows that 20 percent of young Americans under 25 
consider themselves part of the LGBTQ community. That is 
exactly the market that we are looking for.
    Mr. Waltz. Do you collect then, Air Force or Army, do you 
know how much of the Air Force or how much of the Army 
identifies as LBGTQ, what percentage?
    Mr. Wagner. I will take that for the record.
    Mr. Waltz. So you don't know?
    Mr. Wagner. I don't know offhand.
    Mr. Waltz. You knew the Gallup poll, but you don't know 
within your service? Do you collect that data?
    Mr. Wagner. I don't believe that we actually ask----
    Mr. Waltz. I don't think you do.
    Mr. Wagner [continuing]. Youth, minors within our----
    Mr. Waltz. Was there a body within the military that then--
that you wanted to be sure felt comfortable? Because this was 
the main effort from the Army and they are 45,000 short.
    Mr. Wagner. Congressman, our recruiting is trying to reach 
the broadest swath of the American people possible. When large 
percentages identify, we want them to see----
    Mr. Banks. The gentleman's time has expired.
    Mr. Wagner. Mr. Wagner, it is not working. It is not 
working. And now the Army has had a wholesale shift back to 
jumping out of planes and kicking in doors which I would argue 
historically is what soldiers want to do. So I am trying to get 
at what data is driving this shift. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, 
for your indulgence.
    Mr. Banks. Mr. Horsford.
    Mr. Horsford. Thank you, Chairman Banks, Ranking Member 
Kim, thank you to our witnesses for appearing before the 
committee. I want to bring this back to what I think the issue 
is at hand which is to support our service members, their 
families, and to recruit qualified and capable individuals to 
help protect our national interests and our defense. I am proud 
to represent a district that includes Nellis Air Force Base, 
Creech Air Force Base, the Hawthorne Army Depot. And I have met 
with service members and I know just how honored they are to 
serve our Nation.
    What I want to see happen is that they feel proud of their 
service, that they spread the word, and that they continue to 
add to your recruitment and retention efforts. And so I 
appreciate, first of all, all that you are doing, not only in 
recognizing the shortfalls that we are facing, but some of the 
actionable solutions that we hope to discuss today.
    So for the panel, can each of you tell me what your number 
one recruitment issue is, very briefly?
    Mr. Vazirani. Representative Horsford, the number one 
recruiting challenge is that there is disconnection with the 
military. There is a lack of familiarity. Young people who are 
qualified to serve just don't know what the options are in the 
military and so we need to do a better job collectively, not 
just the Department, not just the services, but collectively, 
all of government, leaders in the community.
    Mr. Horsford. So lack of awareness.
    Mr. Vazirani. Lack of awareness.
    Dr. Schaefer. The same with us. And in our case, it is 
historical. We had a lot of our installations in the northern 
part of the country BRAC'd [Base Realignment and Closure] in 
the 1980s, and so we have huge swaths of the country where 
there is no Army presence and folks don't see people in uniform 
walking down the street. They can't ask them questions about 
what it is really like.
    Mr. Horsford. Lack of familiarity, awareness and 
familiarity, okay.
    Mr. Parker. Absolutely and the answer is same for the 
Department of the Navy as well, that lack of awareness, that 
lack of familiarity, and that is part of the reason a lot of 
this outreach is so important because that enables us to help 
educate the public on the value of military service and what it 
can offer them.
    Mr. Horsford. Thank you.
    Mr. Wagner. Congressman, I will associate myself with my 
colleagues' remarks. Lack of familiarity is the most important 
thing, but what is important to realize is that once people 
become familiar, they want to join. They understand the 
benefits of service. They understand the opportunities, whether 
they be educational, financial. They understand the community 
that being part of a team, but also being part of a bigger 
team, a team of teams as I mentioned in my opening statement 
and why that matters and the data proves it. We have got 
historically high----
    Mr. Horsford. Thank you, I have a limited amount of time, 
Honorable Wagner. I did want to follow up to your opening 
statement where you discussed a variety of improvements. How 
will the recruitment strategy for the Air Force evolve over the 
years to attract candidates to meet those goals?
    Mr. Wagner. Congressman, what we want to do is we want to 
optimize what we have done, but we can't take our eye off the 
ball. What we know is that Gen Z gets their information from 
very different sources than we do. So what are we doing about 
it? We are trying to meet them where they are. We are right now 
leveraged across a whole swath of streaming video channels, 
Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, Paramount Plus, first.
    Second, we are also working to advertise in streaming 
music, whether it be SoundCloud or Spotify. Third, we are even 
looking at interactive gaming, Activision Blizzard. We are 
looking at Twitch and other platforms where young people are 
spending the majority of their time. And finally, we are 
leveraging influencers that young people want to be like, want 
to mimic, and tune into whether it be on YouTube or other 
places.
    Mr. Horsford. Thank you. Dr. Schaefer, in today's 
testimony, you discussed your service's new recruitment 
strategy by identifying shortfalls. I especially support the 
idea of having a specialized recruitment arm to focus on that 
priority. Can you discuss any special programs or incentives 
that are in place or will be in place to attract recruits with 
unique skill sets like STEM or language proficiency?
    Dr. Schaefer. Thank you for that question, sir. We have 
already put some in place. We have given a bonus for those who 
want to raise their hand and volunteer to join this new 
recruiting force. And I think we talked a little bit earlier 
about the fact that we are establishing a new workforce and a 
new pipeline and a path to leadership with this, and that, I 
think, in itself is going to be an incentive.
    Mr. Horsford. Thank you. I just had my interview session 
for our military academy recruits over the past weekend and 
this is what we talked about: exposure, awareness, connecting 
them to people who represent those services. I am proud of 
those who seek these opportunities and I think we should spend 
more time trying to break down those barriers rather than 
creating more cultural wars that divide us. Thank you, and I 
yield back.
    Mr. Banks. Mr. Mills.
    Mr. Mills. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, we talk about 
the various reasons for our recruitment shortages and we 
continue to list COVID as one of those key examples, even 
though the DOD Inspector General has released a report saying 
that COVID can no longer be utilized as a reasoning for the 
recruitment shortage.
    I want to make everyone to be a little bit more mindful in 
your statements when you are actually continuing to utilize 
this unless you disagree with the Department of Defense 
Inspector General's report.
    You know, I am looking at where we are at and I think that 
it is unavoidable when I am talking to many service members who 
are currently in the military and those who are leaving that 
have expressed concerns over the military's use of DEI 
initiatives. Do you think these service members and the 9,000 
who were in my opinion unconstitutionally purged out for 
refusing the COVID vaccine would speak positively and help with 
recruitment efforts whenever they feel that this is actually an 
issue for them?
    Mr. Vazirani. Representative Mills, first of all, I just 
want to focus on that the service members that we have in 
today, the value proposition that we offer them today seems to 
be sticking because we don't have a retention issue. With 
respect to service members who were discharged for refusal of 
COVID vaccine, I wouldn't want to speculate on what they would 
say. I am sure that for as many people that were discharged, 
they would have as many different perspectives on what their 
view of their military service was.
    Mr. Mills. Well, I appreciate that. I mean, look, it is not 
as if that is the only thing that it's hinging upon, but I just 
find it a bit odd that we continue to utilize this in our 
opening statements and to some of my colleagues' points, we 
brought this up three different times and we keep utilizing it 
as an excuse for recruitment efforts to go down. And I don't 
think that is actually going to be accurate.
    Mr. Vazirani. Congressman, if I may----
    Mr. Mills. I also want to--if I can just continue on and by 
the way, I want to thank you for your service in the military. 
I know you wore the uniform as well. Just out of curiosity, by 
a show of hands, how many of you actually had served in 
uniform? One person.
    You know, you talk about the significant importance you 
give, especially you, Mr. Wagner, the rah-rah speech of how 
great serving in the military is, yet you have never actually 
served yourself, so don't actually know how far we have fallen 
from where we actually used to be when we prioritized things 
like increased lethality, readiness, and being properly 
equipped and instead now focus on the diversity, equity, and 
inclusion of our military.
    You know, we talk about the fact that we have a great 
retention, but we also don't talk about the fact that we have 
actually lowered standards and that doesn't actually make us 
for a fighting and stronger force. When you talk about push-up 
and 2-mile standards that has been lowered, when you talk about 
the Navy who has lowered their entrance examine requirements on 
their AQFT [Armed Forces Qualification Test] test now offering 
various waivers.
    But what I would say is and I agree with one of the key 
points that you talk about, we have to increase and support a 
better quality of life for our service members. We have to 
ensure that the pay is in line to make sure that they can't 
make more serving as a waiter somewhere or a waitress somewhere 
and that they actually have a good quality of life, not just 
for themselves, but for their spouse and their families. And I 
think that is a very key issue which is all the more reasons 
why when we submitted all of our requirements under the NDAA, I 
was shocked whenever the Senate came back, who is 
Democratically run, with only a 5.2 percent increase in our E-1 
to-6 knowing that under Bidenomics we have just sitting on the 
military bases alone a 20 percent increase in inflation on our 
quality of life for basic goods.
    And so I will say that I do agree with you and the fact 
that we need to do more with increasing the rate of pay to 
increase the quality of life, but also the allocation of MILCON 
[military construction] that would enable our bases to have 
better affordability and better availability of housing, but 
also not having our barracks and our actual buildings [that] 
are falling in on soldiers, especially in areas in INDOPACOM 
[U.S. Indo-Pacific Command] that has a level 5 corrosion level 
that we see has been completely ignored for quite some time.
    Speaking of the military benefits and things, do you 
believe that our military benefits and just going into what I 
talked about, about lowering standards, do you think they 
benefit by taking the approach of lowering standards rather 
than addressing issues head on?
    Mr. Vazirani. Congressman, I just want to make sure I 
understand. Is your question about the benefits or is it----
    Mr. Mills. No, no. I am just saying do you think they 
benefit from the lowering of standards? That is the question 
itself.
    Mr. Vazirani. Congressman, I would--a comment, and then 
defer to my colleagues as well, but I don't believe that we are 
lowering standards. I think----
    Mr. Mills. But I actually have examples where we are, in 
fact, lowering standards, both on the push-up and the 2-mile 
standards. The AQFT test standards, we are actually offering 
more waivers. So I don't know that you can say that we are not 
lowering physical fitness standards when in fact that is 
exactly what we are proven to have done.
    Mr. Vazirani. Congressman, just a few weeks ago, I took the 
Army Combat Fitness Test. It is a very good test of fitness. It 
tests a range of capabilities and strengths that align with the 
warfighting that is required. So sir, I am not sure that we see 
that change in the fitness standards the same way.
    Mr. Mills. Well, I would argue that whatever you are 
actually proven to have lowered the push-up and 2-mile 
standards, adding an additional minute on the 2-mile standard; 
lowering push-ups by one, for example, for females in the 
military. But I would also just offer one thing which is that 
we talk about our actual inability to try and be ready for 
things, but when you are having drag shows and prioritizing DEI 
and you are thinking about all these types of things and you 
are ridiculing people for TP [Talking Point] Action rallies and 
saying it is apolitical, that probably has a big recruitment 
deficit as well in the way that we actually view our military. 
With that, I yield back.
    Mr. Banks. Ms. Strickland.
    Ms. Strickland. Thank you, Chairman and Ranking Member. I 
serve on the bipartisan Quality of Life Panel and I appreciate 
my colleague raising issues around housing, pay, and also child 
care, and spouse employment. All those things contribute to the 
household income of those who serve. And I know we want to 
collect quantitative information, but qualitative information 
and word of mouth is one of the strongest recruiting tools as 
well.
    I want to talk a bit about how you are handling the HR 
[human resources] function with recruiting. I know that there 
is an attempt to professionalize it because a lot of people who 
are recruiters aren't necessarily professional HR people. And I 
think given where we are in this century and the diverse pool 
of candidates from which we must pull if we are going to have a 
strong military is very important.
    So I am going to start with you, Ms. Schaefer. Can you talk 
a bit about how the Army is professionalizing the HR function 
and how you think that will better address the recruiting needs 
we have.
    Dr. Schaefer. So we talked about this a lot as we were 
going through the transformation process and HR really has 
become so technical at this point and we have, you know, a lot 
of MOSes [military occupational specialties], over a hundred. 
And so we talked about is it better to have a generalist go out 
or a specialist? And ultimately, we looked again at industry 
standards and they have a professional recruiting force. And 
rather than just sending out an email to somebody saying you 
are going to be a recruiter, we wanted to develop a talent 
pipeline for that specifically.
    Ms. Strickland. Great. Well, thank you. And then I would 
like to ask each of you could you tell me the one thing that 
you are doing right now to improve recruiting? We will start 
with you.
    Mr. Vazirani. Thank you for that question. There are a 
range of things and as we talked about, this is a complex 
problem. So there is not a single silver bullet.
    Ms. Strickland. Right.
    Mr. Vazirani. I would say the one thing that is critical to 
what we are doing is this national call to service. We do need 
to increase awareness of the opportunities and options for 
young people in the military. We do need for people to 
understand all of the benefits of service and the value of 
service, whether that is for a one-term enlistment or for a 
full career, 30-plus years. That is an area that we have a 
great opportunity to help raise that level of awareness. If we 
can get--if we can drive that awareness, if we can change 
perceptions and then get some consideration, the recruiters, 
the professional recruiters and the recruiters that are out 
there in the field then have an opportunity to then go into the 
detail of what particular MOS, what opportunities are there for 
you.
    But this is an area that we need help from Congress, from 
our sister agencies, the Department of Education, the 
Department of Labor, from leaders at the State and local level 
to talk about and in corporations. There are a number of 
employee resource groups that are veterans and to get veterans 
out there in the community and talk about how did military 
service change their lives? It changed my life. It gave me an 
opportunity to serve in a different way. It helped me to learn 
how to address problems in a much more structured manner. It 
helped me to build a career in taking advantage of all those 
skills and then bring all of that back to serving military 
families. And that is an area that I think we need to do more.
    Ms. Strickland. Yeah, I talk about the friends I went to 
high school with who joined the military right after high 
school, served 20 years, and now they have another career and 
they are doing very well financially with secure retirement.
    Ms. Schaefer. And I've got about a minute and a half left, 
so if you----
    Dr. Schaefer. So I would just say it is this enormous 
transformation effort. We really wanted to look at ourselves, 
see what we needed to change and move forward on changing it. 
This is one of the biggest transformations in the Army, at 
least over my 20-plus-year career and I am incredibly proud of 
the systematic way we went about this.
    Ms. Strickland. Great. Mr. Parker.
    Mr. Parker. I think it is various efforts to improve our 
eligible pool, our eligible population of folks that serve. One 
of the things that we started up this year was a Future Sailor 
Prep Course really modeled on the Army's model and that is 
something that has been very helpful and successful to us. And 
so really looking at various ways to expand that eligible 
population and then further to Mr. Vazirani's point, really 
kind of reaching out, expanding that outreach as well. That is 
another way really to expand it by recruiting in every ZIP Code 
and also finding other ways to reach our people and tell 
authentic stories of what it means to be a sailor or a Marine.
    Ms. Strickland. Thank you. Mr. Wagner.
    Mr. Wagner. Congresswoman, I think it is a two-pronged 
approach. First, we have got to be everywhere in this diverse 
country, including places as far away as Guam and American 
Samoa, to tell stories with targeted industry best practices to 
get out there and to be available and accessible.
    But we have also got to look under the hood. As I talked 
about in my opening statement, we took a look at things where 
we were not optimized. And I will just give you one really 
quick example. Our body composition standards in the Air Force 
were different than OSD standards, and so we aligned them to 
meet what OSD allowed. Then we tracked those recruits who came 
in under the different standard, 1,400 of them. Of those 1,400 
that would have otherwise been excluded, only 1 failed to pass 
their physical fitness test at BMT [basic military training].
    So this is a success story. But what we have got to do is 
look externally to what we can do to reach the broadest 
proportion of our population and internally, where we can 
update things that we haven't taken a look at in quite some 
time.
    Ms. Strickland. Well, great. Thank you for your comments 
and I yield back, Mr. Chair.
    Mr. Banks. Ms. Sewell.
    Ms. Sewell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I first want to echo 
our witnesses' statements that addressing our military 
recruitment challenges will take a whole-of-government approach 
and we all play a critical role in that. I firmly believe that 
military service is an unmatched opportunity for leadership 
skills, for personal growth, and a sense of accomplishment. And 
I take pride in the responsibility of nominating students from 
my district each year to the military academies and hosting an 
annual job fair where I encourage all the services to attend 
and set up tables to inform and to provide outreach.
    As a representative of Alabama's civil rights district, I 
know that we must address today's challenges through a lens of 
diversity and inclusion because we want to make sure that our 
military reflects the beautiful tapestry of this nation.
    Mr. Wagner, I couldn't agree more with your testimony where 
you state ``If we do not intentionally invest in growing 
[propensity] among young men and the Nation--young women and 
the Nation's fastest-growing racial and ethnic groups, we risk 
the future of the All-Volunteer Force.''
    Diversity and inclusion is not a woke game. It is a mission 
critical to our national security. The polarization and attacks 
on diversity and inclusion from across the aisle, all while 41 
percent of our military is part of a minority group, hurts our 
military recruitment efforts and is a distraction from the 
actual issues at hand.
    To the Honorable Deputy Under Secretary, do you believe 
that diversity is America's strength and can you share the 
readiness benefits of having a diverse military force?
    Mr. Vazirani. Representative Sewell, thank you very much. I 
do believe the strength of America comes from our diversity and 
I firmly believe that. I think I am an example of that and I 
think my colleagues are an example of that.
    We are committed to cultivating a force that recognizes and 
embraces and leverages the strengths of these different people 
and different perspectives. We also know that by embracing that 
diversity, we will bring in talent from the breadth of America. 
What that requires is that we then need to focus on equity and 
inclusion which will then enable those service members to 
perform at their best and that will improve our warfighting 
capability.
    We have seen, and there are studies out there that say, 
that the lack of diversity actually degrades battlefield 
performance, and so it is critical that we have a breadth of 
talent and a breadth of capability and that we integrate that 
talent and that those people who serve feel that sense of 
belonging to that greater purpose in that mission.
    So ma'am, I firmly believe that diversity is our strength.
    Ms. Sewell. Thank you, sir. To you, Mr. Wagner, I think 
that if communities of color saw more diversity within our 
leadership positions in the military, then they would be more 
likely to serve. What steps is the Air Force taking to recruit 
diverse candidates into the officer position and how are you 
utilizing our ROTC programs, especially those at HBCUs 
[Historically Black Colleges and Universities], to create a 
pipeline of diverse candidates who can rise through the ranks?
    Mr. Wagner. Congresswoman, what we know is ``you can't be 
it if you can't see it.'' And so last year, we took steps to 
update a 2014 document which went to how are we putting our 
resources to recruit officers into our force. We were looking 
at expanding the applicant pool of people who were interested 
in applying whether it to be the service academy or through 
ROTC which is a nontraditional way of applying, as you know, it 
requires a nomination of Members of Congress, et cetera.
    This resource drill designed to appeal and enhance and 
increase familiarity will help us target communities that have 
often been ignored. And so we are focused on expanding the pool 
of qualified applicants. Let me be absolutely clear. Merit, 
merit is the sole qualification for admission to the U.S. Air 
Force Academy. It is the sole qualification for an ROTC 
scholarship. But if we don't intentionally set aspirational 
goals to try to recruit a diverse officer corps, we are never 
going to start that pipeline so one day someone can get through 
the system and become the first Black chief of staff of any 
military department and military service like General Brown was 
before he was confirmed as Chairman. We are never going to have 
a Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force like JoAnne Bass. We 
have got to start early. We have got to have people see that 
you can be it and then we have to take proactive steps to get 
our message out and not only a message, but fund that message 
with resources consistently.
    Ms. Sewell. Amen. I yield back the balance of my time.
    Mr. Banks. I want to thank all of our witnesses and 
committee members for participating today. This is a very 
important hearing, a very important topic. We all agree, a 50 
year--on the 50th anniversary of an All-Volunteer Force the 
recruitment crisis that we have never seen before. Some of my 
colleagues complained, a third committee hearing talking about 
the same subject. Well, I guarantee you next year we are going 
to dive into this subject even more than we already have 
because it is just that important that we solve it. And what we 
are doing right now is failing as we have talked about before.
    And as I said before, the All-Volunteer Force is at a 
crossroads. If we continue down the same path of valuing 
radical ideologies like DEI over national security, the 
recruits will continue to dwindle. These are the real issues. 
One of my colleagues, I think Ms. Houlahan, said the focus is 
bizarre to talk about it. But in fact, accusing our veterans 
and new recruits' real concerns as bizarre is offensive. It is 
offensive to anyone that wants to address these recruitment 
issues, with wars in the Middle East and Europe, and China 
seeking a stranglehold on the Pacific, America's national 
security is in real danger. And we don't have the luxury to 
keep failing at communicating a message that resonates with the 
Americans who want to serve our country and that is what this 
is all about.
    So thank you very much for your time, the important service 
that you provide to our country. The committee is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 11:31 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]







      
=======================================================================





                            A P P E N D I X

                           December 13, 2023 



                           
                           

=======================================================================

      






      
=======================================================================





              PREPARED STATEMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

                           December 13, 2023 



                           

=======================================================================

      




      
    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] 
    





      
=======================================================================






                   DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

                           December 13, 2023






=======================================================================

      



      
    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    





      
=======================================================================







              QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING

                           December 13, 2023 
                           




                           

=======================================================================








      

                   QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MR. BERGMAN

    Mr. Bergman. Today's kids are glued to their phones. They receive 
their news from social media apps; YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, 
etc. If these apps use algorithms that send these kids down rabbit 
holes--showing non-stop videos of mold infested barracks and other 
failures of our military. What steps are each of you taking to combat 
this misinformation?
    Mr. Vazirani. To combat this misinformation, we must make every 
effort to ensure today's youth and influencers get accurate and 
reliable information about what it means to serve in today's military 
and the benefits and opportunities available to those who choose to 
serve. To that end, the Department and the Services utilize a multi-
pronged or ``be everywhere'' approach that leverages different 
marketing platforms/channels, tools, and strategies to help ensure more 
positive, accurate messaging regarding the opportunities and benefits 
of service reach today's youth.
    Mr. Bergman. Today's kids are glued to their phones. They receive 
their news from social media apps; YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, 
etc. If these apps use algorithms that send these kids down rabbit 
holes--showing non-stop videos of mold infested barracks and other 
failures of our military. What steps are each of you taking to combat 
this misinformation?
    Dr. Schaefer. The Army has taken a very close look at how a 
potential recruit assesses the value proposition Army service offers 
and has taken steps to outweigh any issues related to negative 
perceptions by ensuring that our narrative surrounding the Army remains 
balanced and accurate. To address this, we employ a comprehensive 
strategy focusing on several key areas:
    1. Content Creation & Distribution: We produce positive and 
informative content about the Army. Our Be All You Can Be campaign, 
launched last year, is designed to reveal the Army's possibilities. 
When launched in March 2023, the messaging focused on revealing the 
Army as an `unlimiter' and highlighting all the possibilities available 
in the Army. In August 2023, we activated additional aspects of the 
campaign with strategic messaging themes that align with data and 
research informed areas GEN Z are looking for, purpose, passion, 
community, and connection. We promote this information in relevant 
spaces and platforms related to our target audience. By promoting these 
efforts across various media and social media platforms, we provide a 
counter-narrative to possible negative depictions. For example, the 
``Know Your Army'' marketing campaign released in 21MAR22, and 
currently still in market, addresses common misperceptions of service 
with a direct look at how the Army supports life beyond job and duty. 
The campaign introduces the lesser-known tangible and intangible 
benefits of Army service, such as thirty (30) days' paid annual 
vacation, homebuying benefits through a VA loan, pension plans, paid 
parental leave, early retirement options, and camaraderie, all 
showcasing a diverse mix of Soldiers from across the U.S. These five 
15-second commercials draw a connection between what youth want and 
unmatched Army benefits for Soldier lifestyles and wellbeing, 
positioning service to the Nation as a smart choice and investment in 
their futures. The campaign's promotional assets provoke consideration 
of service using relatable and a fact-based tone, as well as a hint of 
humor and optimism to drive engagement and inspire confidence. It is in 
markets across television, streaming/online video, digital, social 
media, paid search, and email.
    2. Engagement with Social Platforms: The Army serves relevant 
content in all approved major social media platforms that highlight a 
balanced representation of the Army.
    3. Community Outreach: The Army has established a new directorate 
to build meaningful relationships with affinity groups, veterans, and 
academic, community, and industry leaders to positively engage with 
influencers and America's youth.
    4. Partnerships with Influencers: The Army collaborates with 
influential personalities who resonate with the younger demographic, 
which helps in disseminating factual information about the Army.
    5. Monitoring & Analytics: We employ social media listening and can 
respond to misinformation rapidly. Social media listening is a 
proactive way to track, analyze, and respond to online conversations. 
Using boolean search methods within tools like Sprinklr, AEMO can scan 
social media channels with an open Available Programming Interface 
(API) for mentions about the Army, GoArmy, and other related keywords. 
By using advanced analytics, we can track the spread of our content and 
its impact, enabling us to take proactive measures.
    6. Market Research: We have established a robust research ecosystem 
that provides us with information about our target audience, which 
allows us to understand their perceptions and create content and 
campaigns to raise awareness, educate and engage with the youth 
audiences. Army Marketing's commitment to upholding the integrity of 
the Army's image is unwavering. We continue to adapt and evolve our 
strategies to navigate the complexities of the digital landscape 
effectively. Through these concerted efforts, the Army will not only 
combat misinformation but also fortify the respect and trust in our 
armed forces.
    Mr. Bergman. Today's kids are glued to their phones. They receive 
their news from social media apps; YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, 
etc. If these apps use algorithms that send these kids down rabbit 
holes--showing non-stop videos of mold infested barracks and other 
failures of our military. What steps are each of you taking to combat 
this misinformation?
    Mr. Parker. The Defense Manpower Data Center maintains a Recruiter 
Access to High School database. Navy Recruiting Command and Marine 
Corps Recruiting Command are currently reporting no high schools to 
this list.
    Previous statute (10 U.S.C. Sec. 503) required recruiters be 
provided the same access as ``provided generally'' to postsecondary 
educational institutions and prospective employers. This set a low bar 
for compliance that did not provide for meaningful access and 
engagement with students and educators at schools that only met their 
minimal requirements. For example, where individual institutions or 
employers are provided access once a year, the school may meet the 
letter of the law by providing recruiter access once per year.
    Section 541 of Public Law 118-31, the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, amended 10 U.S.C. Sec. 503 to 
require schools provide military recruiters access to ``career fairs or 
similar events''. Importantly, the amendment also established a 60 day 
timeline to provide student contact information. I am hopeful these 
measures will provide additional opportunities for our Navy and Marine 
Corps recruiters to foster meaningful engagement with students and 
educators.
    In addition to the tireless work of our recruiters, we continue to 
enhance communication and partnerships with local, state, and Federal 
education officials and influencers, such as educators and counselors, 
to promote military service as a meaningful career and educational 
pathway.
    We also welcome the opportunity to work with Congress to further 
modernize recruiter access requirements, such as providing for monthly 
access and classroom presentations; include military service as part of 
school accountability metrics; and encourage engagement between 
recruiters and local and state education officials.
    Mr. Bergman. During the Senior Enlisted Leader Perspective Hearing 
on March 9th, we discussed the lack of propensity to serve. I asked 
each service to take for the record if their recruiters are being 
welcomed by the schools--by the board of education, teachers, 
counselors, coaches, influencers, etc. Assistant Secretary Parker 
(Navy), the response I received from your department was some High 
Schools only allow access once a year. How many High Schools in the 
Navy's recruiting locations are restricting access and what can we do 
to ensure you and every service has as much as access as possible?
    Mr. Parker. The Department of the Navy seeks to keep as many JROTC 
units open as possible to support high school students throughout the 
Nation within allotted resources and statutory provisions, and exhausts 
all efforts to keep programs viable before considering closure. The 
JROTC curriculum is a citizenship development program that is intended 
to instill in students the value of citizenship, service to country, 
personal responsibility and a sense of accomplishment. While the 
program is not intended as a recruiting program, it does provide 
students with valuable exposure to the military. If a host school is 
having difficulty meeting the minimum enrollment requirements, the 
JROTC staff and school work together to identify ways to increase 
student enrollment, prior to considering closing the unit, in order to 
keep as many units open as possible. Additionally, the host schools 
have the option to request that the unit is converted to the National 
Defense Cadet Corps (NDCC), which is modeled after the JROTC program 
but has different requirements, such as having a lower minimum 
enrollment requirement.
    Although 10 U.S.C. Sec. 2031 currently provides the Department with 
adequate authorities to address enrollment requirements, JROTC program 
metrics should be regularly reviewed and validated to ensure effective 
program oversight and performance. Secondary education school districts 
throughout the Nation have unique needs to support their local 
communities that should be considered when reviewing JROTC enrollment 
requirements.
    Mr. Bergman. Today's kids are glued to their phones. They receive 
their news from social media apps; YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, 
etc. If these apps use algorithms that send these kids down rabbit 
holes--showing non-stop videos of mold infested barracks and other 
failures of our military. What steps are each of you taking to combat 
this misinformation?
    Mr. Wagner. DAF's comprehensive, data-driven approach is not just 
about reaching Gen Z, but authentically telling our story and creating 
meaningful connections that are native to their everyday life and that 
resonates with their values and interests. We've integrated our 
messaging across popular streaming services, tapped into the gaming 
culture and the music streaming sector. We're also hosting bi-weekly 
in-house live streams to facilitate real-time communication to break 
down the barriers of traditional marketing, offering a direct and 
interactive platform to connect. Our collaboration with social media 
influencers in gaming, sports, and STEM are instrumental in reaching 
youth to inspire interest in service. We engage with a wide array of 
community influencers through social media and in-person events to help 
communicate the opportunities, benefits, and career development of the 
Air Force and Space Force.
                                 ______
                                 
                    QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MR. WALTZ
    Mr. Waltz. Your senior enlisted leaders and your service vice 
chiefs have implicitly endorsed the JROTC program.
    According to Army enlistment data from FY19-21, 44% of Regular Army 
enlistments came from schools with a DOD JROTC program; of these, 21% 
came from schools with an Army JROTC program. According to the Air 
Force, approximately 22% of students graduating high school with 
AFJROTC experience choose to pursue active-duty Air Force service.
    I am pleased that the FY24 Defense Authorization Conference report 
raised the number of authorized programs from 3,700 to 4,000. I am also 
pleased it included two of my amendments, the first dealing with 
instructor eligibility and compensation, and the other to expand the 
Troops-to-Teachers program to help transitioning servicemembers to 
become JROTC instructors.
    There are currently 3,499 JROTC programs operating.
    What additional authorities and resources do you need to reach the 
4,000 programs soon to be authorized?
    Do you have a timeline on how many new programs will be established 
next fiscal year and beyond?
    When establishing a new program, how are you determining priority? 
Are you looking at more populous states with the lowest % of programs?
    Mr. Vazirani. The Secretaries of the Military Departments have the 
responsibility to effectively Plan, Program and Budget across the 
Future Years Defense Program for the operation of JROTC and have been 
directed to maintain, at a minimum, their established levels since 2013 
and are encouraged to invest in expanding this important citizenship 
program. Target minimums set in 2013 are: U.S. Army-1,709, U.S. Navy-
583, U.S. Marine Corps-235, and U.S. Air Force-870. While the 
Department of the Army and the Department of the Navy have been able to 
maintain or exceed these minimums, the Department of the Air Force has 
fallen below their minimum by 29 units. However, the DOD believes that 
the program remains viable within the current statutory requirements as 
prescribed by the 2024 NDAA section 551 of ``not less than 3,400 and 
not more than 4,000 units.''
    The Secretaries of the Military Departments' decisions on any 
growth timeline would be subject to their input into the President's 
Budget Request and in coordination with potential partnering school 
districts requesting a program. Due to core warfighting tasks, 
including critical National Defense Strategy priorities and ongoing 
global operations, the Military Services could face difficulties 
meeting the resource requirements necessary to achieve expansion of the 
JROTC program.
    Any decisions the Secretaries of the Military Departments make in 
establishing new programs will involve a review of existing program 
locations for viability; whether a state is underrepresented with JROTC 
programs as a proportion of the state's high school population; student 
enrollment; academic credit awarded to participating students (such as 
physical fitness or college and technical education credit); STEM 
offerings; and Title I status. Additionally, the Secretaries of the 
Military Departments will have to secure willing and able partners to 
host this program and provide analysis of the pool of eligible and 
willing JROTC Instructor applicants. Section 512 of the FY23 NDAA, 
``Expansion of eligibility to serve as an instructor in the Junior 
Reserve Officers' Training Corps'' addressing the new pay system that 
allows certain qualified members of the Selected Reserve and certain 
qualified Veterans to be considered for employment as JROTC 
instructors, will help address instructor shortfalls in schools and 
help bolster our presence in geographically underrepresented areas. In 
partnership with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Research 
and Engineering, my office has developed an interactive listing of 
program locations which is designed to aid the Secretaries of the 
Military Departments in assessing all program locations. This link can 
be viewed at: https://azusearc gis1.air.org/portal/home/webmap/
viewer.html?webmap=1376e985a39f40cb99e03ebcc4 d10ea6&extent=-128.7009, 
23.6714,-63.7936,52.2054
    Mr. Waltz. Are there any school boards that have prohibited JROTC 
programs in their school districts? If so, can you please provide the 
committee with a list?
    Mr. Vazirani. My office is unaware of any school boards that have 
prohibited JROTC programs in their school districts.
    Mr. Waltz. Section 2031 of Title 10 requires that a JROTC program's 
minimum enrollment be at least 10% of the total number of students 
enrolled at a school, or 100 students, whichever is less.
    Out of the Army's 1,734 JROTC programs, 44 programs are on 
probation for failing to meet these enrollment standards.
    193 of 841 Air Force JROTC units (23%) are currently non-viable 
due to cadet enrollment below minimum requirements. 5 of the 193 units 
were notified of and approved for closure. The remaining 188 units are 
being placed on probation and have been notified of their probationary 
status.
    Given the high percentage of recruits that come from schools with a 
DOD JROTC program, do you think it is prudent to close programs down?
    Do you think Congress should re-examine Section 2031 to amend the 
enrollment requirements to maintain these JROTC programs where they 
exist?
    Mr. Vazirani. The Secretaries of the Military Departments have been 
directed to maintain, at a minimum, their established levels since 2013 
and are encouraged to invest in growth. While the Secretaries of the 
Military Departments have the responsibility to monitor program 
viability and compliance with 10 USC 2031, if they do make the decision 
to disestablish a program, the Military Service will review their order 
of merit lists to establish a new program in its place. Additionally, 
the host school has the option for a similar program, the National 
Defense Cadet Corps (NDCC), which is modeled after JROTC, in accordance 
with sections 2034 and 2035 of title 10 U.S. Code. Most of the funding 
for a NDCC unit is borne by the host school (e.g., instructor salaries, 
student uniforms, and daily operational expenses). Curriculum material, 
selected equipment, and the forms and regulations required to conduct 
the program are provided by the Military Services. NDCC units may be 
used to mitigate the adverse effects of closing non-viable JROTC 
detachments but are not considered to be or counted as JROTC units. It 
is important to note that the host school bears a financial burden in 
sponsoring a program, and requests for disestablishment can by 
initiated by that school at any time.
    I believe that 10 USC 2031 provides the Department adequate 
authorities to address enrollment requirements.
    Mr. Waltz. Can you provide this committee with a list of 
universities that have barred military recruiters from campus?
    Do these universities have ROTC programs?
    Do these universities receive any funding from the Department?
    Mr. Vazirani. We have conferred with each of our Military 
Department recruiting commands, and they are unaware of any university 
or institute of higher learning which has barred military recruiters 
from their campus.
    Mr. Waltz. The National Guard has a quarterly critical skill list 
that has included seven MOSs eligible for recruiting incentives. In Q1 
FY24 this was reduced to two MOSs. The extension bonus maximum payment 
was also reduced from $20k to $10k.
    Why was the change made? The Army is investing resources and 
manpower into developing a new Army recruiting structure.
    What investments and changes are the National Guard making to 
match/mirror these modernization efforts to better compete in the race 
for talent?
    Mr. Vazirani. The Army National Guard was compelled to decrease the 
number of Military Occupational Specialties eligible for an enlistment 
incentive, as well as reduce the retention incentive, to avoid 
increased costs, which would inherently introduce severe risk in other 
important personnel and readiness programs. This decision was based on 
consistent inadequate funding within the incentives program. Analysis 
conducted in FY23 indicated that without significant reductions to 
enlistment and retention incentives, the ARNG would experience a growth 
in obligations that would become unsustainable. If the ARNG did not 
modify the incentives structure in FY24, there would be an unfunded 
requirement of $55M by the end of this fiscal year, which would have 
been significantly higher had OSD not bolstered the FY 24 incentives 
program through a Program Decision Memorandum. In FY25, the unfunded 
requirement was projected to increase to $135M, with future year 
projections exceeding $100M. The Army National Guard has experienced 
many of the same challenges to recruiting success as the Active Army 
and the other Services. Despite constrained resources within the 
incentives program, the ARNG continues to resource the recruiting 
enterprise to the greatest extent possible within the funding limits. 
The ARNG continues to leverage existing programs as well as develop new 
initiatives to maximize recruiter success. The ARNG fully maximizes the 
Army's Future Soldier Preparatory Course. The ARNG has instituted a 
Recruiter Master Trainer Pilot Program to provide enhanced training 
capabilities to recruiting battalions to increase recruiter 
productivity. The ARNG has instituted a Recruiter Performance Pay Pilot 
Program to incentivize mission accomplishment by compensating 
recruiters who make the effort and sacrifices required to perform at a 
high level. Additionally, the ARNG has instituted a Prior Service--Army 
Integration Course to increase accessions from the prior service 
market. These efforts have led to an increase in productivity in FY24 
by 22.8% FYTD over FY23 production.
    Mr. Waltz. Section 2031 of Title 10 requires that a JROTC program's 
minimum enrollment be at least 10% of the total number of students 
enrolled at a school, or 100 students, whichever is less.
    Out of the Army's 1,734 JROTC programs, 44 programs are on 
probation for failing to meet these enrollment standards.
    193 of 841 Air Force JROTC units (23%) are currently non-viable 
due to cadet enrollment below minimum requirements. 5 of the 193 units 
were notified of and approved for closure. The remaining 188 units are 
being placed on probation and have been notified of their probationary 
status.
    Given the high percentage of recruits that come from schools with a 
DOD JROTC program, do you think it is prudent to close programs down?
    Do you think Congress should re-examine Section 2031 to amend the 
enrollment requirements to maintain these JROTC programs where they 
exist?
    Dr. Schaefer. The Army does not want to close JROTC programs; 
however, each year approximately 15-20 Army programs close through 
natural attrition at the schools' request, usually because of financial 
considerations. The Army reinvests these resources by offering new 
programs to schools in other communities.
    No, the Army does not think Congress should amend the enrollment 
requirements to maintain JROTC programs. Having a minimum enrollment 
standard enables the Services to hold schools accountable for promoting 
their programs and encouraging student enrollment. If schools are 
unable to maintain the minimum enrollment, the Services can exercise 
existing authorities to place schools on probation and, if necessary, 
close programs to reinvest those resources in other communities.
    Mr. Waltz. The National Guard has a quarterly critical skill list 
that has included seven MOSs eligible for recruiting incentives. In Q1 
FY24 this was reduced to two MOSs. The extension bonus maximum payment 
was also reduced from $20k to $10k.
    Why was the change made? The Army is investing resources and 
manpower into developing a new Army recruiting structure.
    What investments and changes are the National Guard making to 
match/mirror these modernization efforts to better compete in the race 
for talent?
    Dr. Schaefer. The ARNG was compelled to decrease the number of 
Military Occupational Specialties eligible for an enlistment incentive, 
as well as reduce the retention incentive, to avoid increased costs, 
which would inherently introduce severe risk in other important 
personnel and readiness programs. Analyses conducted in FY23 indicated 
that without significant reductions to enlistment and retention 
incentives, the ARNG would experience a growth in obligations that 
would become unsustainable. If the ARNG did not modify the incentives 
structure in FY24, there would be an unfunded requirement of $55M by 
the end of this fiscal year.
    The Army National Guard has experienced many of the same challenges 
to recruiting success as the Active Army and the other Services. 
Despite constrained resources within the incentives program, the ARNG 
continues to resource the recruiting enterprise to the greatest extent 
possible within the funding limits. The ARNG continues to leverage 
existing programs, such as the Future Soldier Prep Course, as well as 
develop new initiatives to maximize recruiter success. The ARNG has 
instituted a Recruiter Master Trainer Pilot Program to provide enhanced 
training capabilities to recruiting battalions to increase recruiter 
productivity. The ARNG has instituted a Recruiter Performance Pay Pilot 
Program to incentivize mission accomplishment by compensating 
recruiters perform at a high level. Additionally, the ARNG has 
instituted a Prior Service--Army Integration Course to increase 
accessions from the prior service market. These efforts have led to an 
increase in productivity in FY24 by 22.8% FYTD over FY23 production.
    Mr. Waltz. Section 2031 of Title 10 requires that a JROTC program's 
minimum enrollment be at least 10% of the total number of students 
enrolled at a school, or 100 students, whichever is less.
    Out of the Army's 1,734 JROTC programs, 44 programs are on 
probation for failing to meet these enrollment standards.
    193 of 841 Air Force JROTC units (23%) are currently non-viable 
due to cadet enrollment below minimum requirements. 5 of the 193 units 
were notified of and approved for closure. The remaining 188 units are 
being placed on probation and have been notified of their probationary 
status.
    Given the high percentage of recruits that come from schools with a 
DOD JROTC program, do you think it is prudent to close programs down?
    Do you think Congress should re-examine Section 2031 to amend the 
enrollment requirements to maintain these JROTC programs where they 
exist?
    Mr. Parker. We find that young Americans are detached from and 
unfamiliar with the realities of military service, and feel the risks 
outweigh the benefits. They lack understanding of career and 
educational pathways available through service, do not know how time in 
the military is spent and believe there is no work-life balance or 
personal time, and are concerned about perceived risks such as physical 
and psychological harm and risk of sexual assault or harassment.
    Combatting misperceptions about military life involves 
communicating the value and benefits of military service and our 
commitment to our people, while fostering an open dialogue to provide a 
better understanding of military service. Restoring public perception 
about the value of military service requires a national call to 
service.
    Our pay and benefits package is highly competitive against any of 
the country's top employers and we are tackling a number of quality of 
life issues head on. We are expanding parental leave, maximizing dual 
military co-location and geographic stability, removing barriers to 
spouse employment, addressing challenges accessing childcare, and 
supporting financial well-being through pay and allowance increases. We 
are implementing a number of initiatives to take care of our people and 
safeguard the trust they put in us by expanding access to mental health 
care, supporting victims of sexual harassment and assault, 
professionalizing our prevention workforce, and standing up offices of 
special trial counsel.
    All of these efforts support the needs of our Service members and 
preview our commitment to future recruits, by providing a supportive 
environment that is as flexible as possible while continuing to meet 
our national security mission.
    Mr. Waltz. Section 2031 of Title 10 requires that a JROTC program's 
minimum enrollment be at least 10% of the total number of students 
enrolled at a school, or 100 students, whichever is less.
    Out of the Army's 1,734 JROTC programs, 44 programs are on 
probation for failing to meet these enrollment standards.
    193 of 841 Air Force JROTC units (23%) are currently non-viable 
due to cadet enrollment below minimum requirements. 5 of the 193 units 
were notified of and approved for closure. The remaining 188 units are 
being placed on probation and have been notified of their probationary 
status.
    Given the high percentage of recruits that come from schools with a 
DOD JROTC program, do you think it is prudent to close programs down?
    Do you think Congress should re-examine Section 2031 to amend the 
enrollment requirements to maintain these JROTC programs where they 
exist?
    Mr. Wagner. The Department of the Air Force has a floor of 870 
units and is working hard to ensure their viability and program 
compliance with 10 USC 2031. The deactivation of one AFJROTC unit that 
does not meet enrollment requirements opens the possibility for another 
institution to begin hosting a program that will meet enrollment, 
thereby creating opportunity to reach more young Americans.
    I believe that 10 USC 2031 provides the Department of the Air Force 
adequate authorities to address enrollment requirements. There are 
times when programs are no longer viable, and the transition from a 
non-viable location to a new location provides the Air Force and Space 
Force the ability to maximize participation at other locations.
                                 ______
                                 
                    QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MR. DAVIS
    Mr. Davis. During a recent visit to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, 
I toured a deteriorating physical fitness center. Mr. Wagner, will you 
commit to working with my office to prioritize these critical, aging 
installation infrastructure?
    If prospective servicemembers do not have confidence in the quality 
of the most basic, essential facilities, how can we expect them to 
enlist at a time of great uncertainty and mistrust in institutions like 
the U.S. military?
    Mr. Vazirani. The Department and the Services are proactively 
working to improve trust and confidence by reconnecting with 
communities whether it be recruiters getting back into high schools, 
hosting community events, or other activities in which potential 
recruits and their influencers may interact with military members. 
Further, the benefits remain strong and multifaceted to include a 
compensation package that is comprehensive and generous, a compelling 
mission, a sense of camaraderie, and the ability to be part of 
something bigger than oneself. We offer training and experience in 
cutting-edge and high-demand career fields and numerous educational 
benefits. Nevertheless, we must double our efforts to show how the 
Department recognizes the importance of Taking Care of Its People and 
is committed to monitoring policies and programs that impact quality of 
life, including installation infrastructure.
    Mr. Davis. During a recent visit to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, 
I toured a deteriorating physical fitness center. Mr. Wagner, will you 
commit to working with my office to prioritize these critical, aging 
installation infrastructure?
    If prospective servicemembers do not have confidence in the quality 
of the most basic, essential facilities, how can we expect them to 
enlist at a time of great uncertainty and mistrust in institutions like 
the U.S. military?
    Mr. Wagner. The challenges with aging critical infrastructure are a 
significant concern and the DAF is committed to work with you and other 
Members of Congress to ensure a focus on prioritizing investment in our 
most critical infrastructure.
    We attribute DAF's 90% retention to our commitment to ensuring a 
high quality of life for our members, a sense of belonging, an 
unparalleled mission, and the opportunity to achieve and develop to 
their potential. Our recruiting mission continues to be challenged by 
declining propensity impacted by a youth market increasingly unfamiliar 
with the military, a historically strong labor market, an increasing 
need for competitive compensation, and perception of risks of injury 
associated with service.
    Mr. Davis. Beyond raising the enlistment age, has the Air Force 
considered lowering eligibility standards to accept overweight 
enlistees and then training them to meet the old standard once they 
enlist? At a certain point, we will run out of healthy Gen Xers and 
millennials.
    Mr. Wagner. DAF's mission is to continue to access a high-quality 
force that removes barriers to service in response to societal norms 
and opens eligibility to those with a propensity to serve while 
ensuring we have the quantity of people necessary to execute our 
mission. Our most recent increase to maximum age of enlistment from 40 
to 42 was to align with DOD's authorization. Similarly, in March 2023, 
DAF aligned its Body Fat Composition standards for an accession 
physical examination at the Military Entrance Processing Station with 
the DOD maximum allowable standard for entry into service. Both 
barriers were identified by our ``Barriers to Service'' Cross-
Functional Team which stood up in January 2023. The team, whose 
initiatives resulted in more than 2,900 new accessions, continues to 
review DAF policies and standards by examining both current DOD 
accession standards as well as successful policies of other Services 
where their accession requirements differ from ours. DAF will continue 
these assessments and to track initiatives to inform future decisions 
to ensure they support current and future Department of the Air Force 
mission requirements.

                                  [all]