The Air Force and Space Force have met — and surpassed — their recruiting goals for 2025, three months ahead of schedule, officials announced Monday.
The Department of the Air Force, which encompasses both services, has recruited nearly 31,000 potential new service members, with the Air Force meeting its goal of 30,100 new recruits and the Space Force hitting its goal of 797.
Almost 25,000 recruits under contract have been sent to basic military training, the Air Force said in a release. The remaining recruits are expected to start training by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
The strong recruitment effort was boosted by the pool of more than 14,000 recruits in the delayed entry program, the Air Force said. This is the highest in a decade, the service said, and included a record 750 candidates to become special warfare airmen. Those jobs, which have strict standards for who can qualify, are traditionally hard to fill.
The delayed entry program is a list of recruits who have gone through the signup and approval process to join the military, but must wait for room at basic training before they ship out.
“I am excited that both the Air Force and the Space Force have met their fiscal year 2025 recruiting goals three months early,” Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said. “The fact that we have even exceeded this goal and currently have a DEP [delayed entry program] at its largest level in 10 years speaks to the vast number of volunteers interested in serving their country today.”
Air Force leaders first signaled the unusual success of its 2025 recruiting effort and the delayed entry program at the AFA Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado, in March, and said more potential recruits were approaching recruiters to join the Air or Space Forces.
The recruiting success marks the continuation of a turnaround for the Air Force, which in 2023 missed its goal for the first time since 1999. That year, the service hoped to recruit nearly 26,900 new airmen but fell short by nearly 2,700 airmen.
The service rallied in 2024, signing up more than 27,000 airmen. That success prompted the Air Force Recruiting Service to initially hope for 20% growth in 2025, to bring in 32,500 new airmen.
The Air Force ended up somewhat dialing back that ambitious goal, but hitting the 30,100 goal still represents an 11% increase. And it marks the growth of about 6,000 recruits over the 2023 drive.
The department said its expanded outreach to communities, modernized recruitment approach and focus on career development when pitching potential recruits led to its success.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
