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COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on military recruiting, closing enlistment stations and forcing thousands of recruiters to woo potential soldiers online, or even on their front steps. As the virus raged, enlistments slowed and fueled worries that the armed services would have to rely more on current troops re-enlisting to meet total force requirements by the end of the fiscal year in September. Recruiters have had to abandon their normal visits to high schools and malls, and instead are relying almost exclusively on social media to reach young people. As that effort builds, Army leaders believe it may evolve into a new system that will allow them to scale back the size and staffing at enlistment storefronts and reduce the number of recruiters.
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