Army Concerned About Continuing Decline in End Strength

The Army is again struggling to shore up its recruiting for fiscal 2023 and halt the sharp decline in end strength, Military Times reported.

In fiscal 2022, the service suffered from a shortfall of 15,000 recruits, which made it miss its end strength by almost 20,000 soldiers fewer than the 485,000 that Congress funded.

Service officials have expressed concern that they will not be able to rebound in fiscal 2023, informing Congress that by their estimates the Army will shrink to between 445,000 and 452,000 troops.

That led legislators to cut their authorization to 452,000 in the compromised version of the defense policy bill.

Although there are efforts underway to bolster recruiting efforts, experts are worried that the decline will continue and are concerned about the potential strain on the force.

"End strength is supposed to be tied to requirements," Katherine Kuzminski of the Center for a New American Security think tank told Military Times. "And so the question becomes: if the end strength is reduced, are the requirements reduced?"

Service officials say the Army will be able to meet all of its requirements with fewer troops.

However, another worrying sign is that the Heritage Foundation released in October a review for next year that concluded that U.S. military strength has hit a decade low.

The review considered the U.S. military "weak" for the first time in the history of its annual report and "at growing risk of not being able to meet the demands of defending America's vital national interests."

The review also concluded that the current status of the military is risking being unable to "meet the demands of a single major regional conflict" and is "ill-equipped to handle two nearly simultaneous" military conflicts.

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