Overview
- The service finished fiscal 2025 with 44,096 recruits, nearly 3,500 above the 40,600 target and the strongest total since 2002.
- Officials highlighted streamlined processing, including tripled medical‑waiver staff and tattoo approvals cut from about 30 days to 2.7, alongside reduced paperwork that kept recruiters in the field.
- Recruiter manning reached 100% and conversion improved through data‑driven marketing and in‑person activations targeting Gen Z, despite roughly 1,500 fewer frontline recruiters than in the early 2000s.
- Leaders said standards held as the Navy limited very low AFQT accessions, with the three‑week Future Sailor Preparatory Course helping 66% of attendees raise scores to enlist.
- With retention goals met and about one‑quarter of the 2026 mission already in the delayed entry pool, the Navy plans to expand centralized medical recruiting as all services report a sustained upswing.