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“What it takes to get in the Army is, quite frankly, a lot of fraud and perjury,” one recruiter said.
But this tacit tradition — technically a crime — largely stopped in 2022, the same year the military’s recruiting numbers fell precipitously and today’s recruiting crisis came to the fore.
That year, the Defense Department brought a new medical records platform, known as Military Health System Genesis, online at Military Entrance Processing Stations, where applicants are medically examined before they can sign up.
Now, a year after Genesis was first used by MEPS, some military leaders acknowledge the new system has hindered recruiting.
But this tacit tradition — technically a crime — largely stopped in 2022, the same year the military’s recruiting numbers fell precipitously and today’s recruiting crisis came to the fore.
That year, the Defense Department brought a new medical records platform, known as Military Health System Genesis, online at Military Entrance Processing Stations, where applicants are medically examined before they can sign up.
Now, a year after Genesis was first used by MEPS, some military leaders acknowledge the new system has hindered recruiting.
The ‘Genesis’ of today’s recruiting crisis
Posted from militarytimes.comPosted in these groups: 
79R: Recruiter
Recruiting
79R: Recruiter Recruiting
Posted 12 mo ago
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So recruiting is down not because of "woke" policies or all the other bs the GQP believers spout but it's because recruiters can't commit fraud anymore.
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Hmm, hadn't heard about this one - while many different aspects have been talked about regarding the drop in recruiting*, I hadn't heard that one main reason is, "we can't cheat the system anymore".
Personally, I think one of the biggest factors is a perception impact on the potential recruits regarding military service. Prior to the pandemic, the number of young Americans ages 16-21 that expressed an interest in serving in the military was at 13% and has dropped by about 30% recently to only 9%*.
Based on the population demographics from 2021, there are about 25.8M that fall into that age range which means just a bit over 2.3M 16-21 Americans even expressed an interest in going into the military - and this is the target audience for those recruiters (prior to the pandemic, that pool of potential recruits was about 3.4M individuals)
What I couldn't find in the article or elsewhere are any facts regarding the increase in recruits being flagged with Genesis as compared to it coming online (just the general statement about "there is an increase", but nothing stating if it's a 1% increase, 10% or 50%) and comments that it is taking longer because more is being flagged.
Just like the other factors, I think Genesis is having an impact (minor or major - hard to tell without additional information), but is it THE REASON for missed recruiting? Right now that sounds a lot like trying to find something you can't control (and can't be held responsible for) to blame for the downturn.
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* 77% of young Americans are ineligible without waivers due to obesity, criminal convictions, and medical issues, low unemployment, impact of military policies, delayed effect from lack of access to students when schools closed during COVID, and so on.
* SECARMY's remarks in 2022 at AUSA - "Only 9 percent of young Americans ages 16-21 even express an interest in serving in the U.S. military. In this kind of recruiting landscape, we need a full court press to get out into communities all around the country to talk about the U.S. Army."
Personally, I think one of the biggest factors is a perception impact on the potential recruits regarding military service. Prior to the pandemic, the number of young Americans ages 16-21 that expressed an interest in serving in the military was at 13% and has dropped by about 30% recently to only 9%*.
Based on the population demographics from 2021, there are about 25.8M that fall into that age range which means just a bit over 2.3M 16-21 Americans even expressed an interest in going into the military - and this is the target audience for those recruiters (prior to the pandemic, that pool of potential recruits was about 3.4M individuals)
What I couldn't find in the article or elsewhere are any facts regarding the increase in recruits being flagged with Genesis as compared to it coming online (just the general statement about "there is an increase", but nothing stating if it's a 1% increase, 10% or 50%) and comments that it is taking longer because more is being flagged.
Just like the other factors, I think Genesis is having an impact (minor or major - hard to tell without additional information), but is it THE REASON for missed recruiting? Right now that sounds a lot like trying to find something you can't control (and can't be held responsible for) to blame for the downturn.
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* 77% of young Americans are ineligible without waivers due to obesity, criminal convictions, and medical issues, low unemployment, impact of military policies, delayed effect from lack of access to students when schools closed during COVID, and so on.
* SECARMY's remarks in 2022 at AUSA - "Only 9 percent of young Americans ages 16-21 even express an interest in serving in the U.S. military. In this kind of recruiting landscape, we need a full court press to get out into communities all around the country to talk about the U.S. Army."
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SSG Carlos Madden
Clearly the problem of getting recruits through the funnel is two fold: people interested in joining, and of those interested in joining, how many are even qualified. As you stated, there are likely people less interested these days for a number of reasons, but of those that are even interested, far more are being disqualified. If they're going to retain this new medial screening system, and they should, they will have to take an honest look at reevaluating what disqualifies someone from service. As the recruiters in the article state, and we can all probably attest to, none of us were squeaky clean going into MEPS but millions still end up stellar service members. I don't think someone who smoked weed when they were 15 is a problem because if we're being honest most high school kids do and it isn't a factor in their ability to be a good NCO or officer when they're 24. Same with broken bones, mental issues from childhood trauma, etc.
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