The U.S. military recently launched a new program to boost recruitment by providing enlisted legal immigrants with a faster path to citizenship.
The Army, Air Force and Navy reported that they are likely to miss their annual recruitment targets. Last year, the Army fell short of its hiring goal by 25%.
Additionally, only 20% of Americans meet the physical, mental and character requirements to join the military.
official report The recent draft shortage is attributed to low unemployment, a decline in qualified personnel, and declining public confidence in the military.
In an effort to enlist more military personnel, the Air Force this year launched a new program that offers legally enlisted immigrants a faster path to citizenship.
The Army relaunched a similar program in October, offering legal immigrants a fast track to naturalization for enlistment.
The Air Force and Army stepped up their marketing efforts to combat the decline in hiring by creating brochures and social media campaigns and offering additional incentives. Each branch also recruited new recruits with similar backgrounds to contact potential recruits.
Esmita Sudes Bidali, a woman from Nepal, told the Associated Press: “It’s a different story to hear from locals here about the military, but it’s a different story when it’s about your brother or your country of origin.” explained.
Maj. Gen. Ed Thomas, who heads the branch’s recruiting command, said: Associated Press“We have a large number of legal U.S. residents with an extraordinary sense of patriotism who are very appreciative of the opportunities this country offers.”
Thomas said the program requires the Air Force to change policy and work with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service to develop a thorough screening process. He said immigrant recruits rarely land jobs that require confidential permits.
“Exceptional measures must be taken to ensure that security clearance checks are thoroughly scrutinized and passed,” Thomas said.
Immigrant Air Force recruits undergo seven weeks of training and are sworn in as citizens upon completion of the process.
Since its inception, the Air Force’s first group of 14 graduated from basic training and became American citizens in April. Recruits were from Cameroon, Jamaica, Kenya, the Philippines, Russia and South Africa.
By mid-May, about 40 recruits had completed basic training and became citizens. In addition, he started the basic training and citizenship process for 100 people.
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