The U.S. Army has raised the maximum enlistment age by seven years, from 35 to 42. It also decided to overlook prior records of marijuana possession and possession of marijuana paraphernalia.
Observers say the move is aimed at ensuring smooth mobilization of troops in contingencies, as the U.S. Army has faced its worst recruiting slump since the switch to an all-volunteer force in 1973.
On the 20th (local time), the U.S. Army said it will officially implement, starting that day, a revision to Army Regulation 601-210 reflecting these changes. The revision applies equally to the active-duty Army as well as the Reserve and National Guard. Stars and Stripes, the U.S. military's newspaper, said the measure "aligns standards with other services such as the Air Force, which is already accepting applicants in their early 40s, and seeks to tackle the Army's chronic shortage of new recruits." According to the Pew Research Center, of the roughly 1.32 million active-duty service members across the U.S. military, the Army has the most at 450,000.
Age 42 is not a newly created threshold. The U.S. Department of Defense, amid severe recruiting shortfalls stemming from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, previously moved in 2005 to raise the enlistment age from 35 to 42. But because injury rates and training attrition were markedly higher at the Basic Combat Training (BCT) stage, it reverted to 35 in 2016. This latest step is a re-raise after 20 years.
The revision also significantly loosened standards related to marijuana. The U.S. Army changed its rules to allow applicants with one prior offense each for marijuana possession and for possession of drug paraphernalia—considered minor offenses—to apply for enlistment. Across the United States, marijuana regulations have already been greatly eased. Based on State Governments, 40 states—80%—allow medical marijuana, and 24 states—nearly half—allow recreational marijuana.
According to research by the RAND Corporation, a U.S. think tank, recruits with a history of marijuana use did not differ in performance from general recruits in completing their first term of service or in promotion. Task & Purpose, a military-focused outlet, said the "amendment regarding drug possession convictions reflects social change," adding that it aims "to lower administrative barriers for those with simple marijuana records and focus resources on screening more serious issues."
However, applicants with such records who also test positive on a drug test at enlistment must be retested after 90 days. If the second test is also positive, they are permanently ineligible to enlist. Other drugs such as cocaine are subject to stricter standards. Those with felony records such as sale, distribution, or trafficking—not simple possession—remain ineligible to enlist.
According to the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, the Army fell short of its recruiting goals by 25% in 2022 and 23% in 2023. The Army Reserve, which corresponds to the reserve component, has failed to meet its goals for six consecutive years. The U.S. Army War College called this the worst recruiting slump since the shift to an all-volunteer force in 1973. The Ministry of National Defense said that, as of fiscal 2023, the entire force would need to recruit about 41,000 more people to make up the shortfall. Meanwhile, the average age of new Army recruits has risen from 21.7 in the 2000s and 21.1 in the 2010s to 22.7 in 2023.
The causes are multifaceted. The pool of eligible applicants has shrunk. On top of that came rising obesity rates, substance abuse, declining academic achievement, and mental health issues. In a report, Thomas Spoehr, former director of the defense center at the Heritage Foundation, said "only 23% of American youth can enlist in the military without a separate waiver process."
Competition with civilian jobs and pay is getting fiercer. Large corporations such as Amazon and Starbucks have offered wages of $15 or more per hour (about 21,000 won) and tuition assistance, reducing incentives to serve. In a 2023 Ministry of National Defense survey, only a record-low 11% of young people ages 16 to 21 said they "definitely or probably would enlist." According to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey, Americans ages 18 to 29 were the only age group more negative than positive toward the U.S. military. The AP reported that the Army identified fears of injury or death, separation from family, and concerns about career disruption as the biggest obstacles to enlistment.
Since 2017, as background checks and security screenings have tightened further, it has also become harder to fill the ranks with immigrant applicants. U.S. military application guidelines state that non-citizens must "hold a green card and be able to read, write and speak English" to enlist.