Roughly 15,000 recruits up to now two years used one of many Army’s newest recruiting initiatives that enables new troopers to select their first responsibility station, knowledge from the service reviewed by Navy.com reveals.
The highest 5 areas of alternative for 2022 and 2023 have been Fort Cavazos, Texas; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Fort Carson, Colorado; Fort Bliss, Texas; and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. Nonetheless, these bases do not essentially characterize standard areas, as responsibility station choices for troopers are normally in flux and restricted based mostly on the brand new recruit’s job and the wants of the Army on the time they enlist.
In whole, roughly 13% of the 112,000 new recruits throughout the final two years elected to decide on their first responsibility station, service knowledge reveals. Because the Army faces a historic recruiting hunch, the initiative permitting responsibility station selections is among the most vital efforts lately to courtroom Gen Z, a era of recruits who’re extra reluctant to depart their hometowns and need some management over the place they stay, in response to inside Protection Division analysis.
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Broadly, the highest bases for the primary responsibility station of alternative are so as of measurement, presumably which means these installations have probably the most empty slots to fill with junior troops. The one outlier was Fort Liberty, North Carolina, house to the Army’s famed 82nd Airborne Division, which noticed solely 15 new recruits volunteer to be stationed there.
For instance, no troopers have been listed as selecting to be stationed in Japan, the place the Army has a really small footprint. The service’s knowledge didn’t embrace Alaska, which is taken into account a separate responsibility station alternative program, and that knowledge was not offered forward of publication.
Europe was additionally a well-liked alternative, however the service’s knowledge does not break down particular installations in Germany and Italy.
Fort Cavazos is the service’s largest set up and sat on the prime of the checklist.
Nonetheless, the bottom, beforehand generally known as Fort Hood, can also be among the many Army’s most scandal-scarred areas. It is the place Spc. Vanessa Guillén, a 20-year previous soldier, was sexually harassed and murdered in April 2020. The case uncovered systemically poor therapy of ladies within the service and the shortage of transparency and competence with regards to how the service communicates with the general public.
A dozen Army officers have been finally fired. How the Army dealt with Guillén’s homicide additionally brought about nationwide outcry, uncovered systemic issues of sexual assault on the base and all through the service, resulted in federal legal guidelines overhauling army felony justice, and result in a Netflix documentary.
The set up has additionally had points holding its eating services open to feed its formations.
In the meantime, the info additionally reveals that the Southwest, as outlined by the Army, is a prime recruiting area for the service that features Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas, Arizona and Nevada — all states that embrace or are close to a few of the prime first responsibility stations of alternative. In 2022, 8,200 new recruits have been recruited from the area.
Although the South offers the majority of recent recruits, it doesn’t seem like a well-liked alternative for troopers in search of their first responsibility stations, in response to the info. In 2022, 10,000 new recruits got here from the South.
Different areas of the nation — New England, the West Coast and the Midwest — noticed about 6,300 new recruits every.
Beneath are the highest 10 first responsibility stations of alternative for troopers and the variety of new recruits who chosen them in 2022 and 2023:
- Fort Cavazos, Texas: 1,917
- Fort Campbell, Kentucky: 1,648
- Fort Carson, Colorado: 1,512
- Fort Bliss, Texas: 1,395
- Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington: 1,337
- Europe: 1,291
- Fort Stewart, Georgia: 943
- Hawaii: 880
- Fort Drum, New York: 817
- Fort Riley, Kansas: 673
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