By: Kevin Lilley

The armed services all announced positive recruiting news at the end of the fiscal year, with FY 2026 goals attained by all Pentagon branches – some well in advance.

Here’s a look at some particulars from each service.

Army
Overall: The service met its 61,500-soldier recruiting goal in May, one month earlier than in FY 2025.

Other News: The service met its reserve component goal for the first time in a decade, signing up 14,322 recruits, and met its Special Forces goal of 2,940 candidates for the first time in 15 years, Military Times reported Oct. 1.

Marine Corps
Overall: The service reached its goal by recruiting 31,250 enlisted Marines, 1,672 officers, and 3,503 prior-service Reserve Marines in FY 2026, according to a Marine Corps Recruiting Command announcement.

Other News: The Marines are already more than halfway toward FY 2027 recruiting goals, per the release. The FY 2027 figure has not been announced.

Navy
Overall: The service reached its 45,000-sailor goal in July, equaling its FY 2025 performance. It finished with 45,112 new sailors for the fiscal year.

Other News: It’s the third-straight year the sea service has reached its overall recruiting objective since missing its FY 2023 goal by nearly 7,500.

Air Force
Overall: The service met its fiscal year goal by enlisting 31,950 new airmen. The Air Force announced it had reached an FY 2026 goal of 32,750 in April, five months ahead of schedule, and announced the adjusted figure Oct. 1.

Other News: The service will aim to bring in 36,300 airmen in FY 2027, a spokesperson told Military Times.

Space Force
Overall: The service recruited 730 new members to meet its fiscal year goal with five months to spare.

Other News: The FY 2027 goal will nearly double, to a reported 1,402 – part of a wider effort to grow the young service.

Coast Guard
Overall: The service did not release FY 2026 figures, but it cited “record recruiting” as a reason it would be restoring full operations at stations in California, Michigan, Rhode Island, and Virginia in 2027.

Other News: The Coast Guard exceeded its FY 2025 recruiting goals in all categories – enlisted, officer, and reserve – with the largest accession totals since 1991. It was the second year the service met benchmarks after falling short from 2019 to 2023.