WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, U.S. Senator King today pressed top military recruiting command officers on the status of “geographic diversity” recruitment efforts across the military. Specifically, he asked Major General Johnny K. David, United States Army; Rear Admiral Alexis T. Walker, United States Navy, Major General William J. Bowers, United States Marine Corps, and Brigadier General Christopher R. Amrhein, United States Air Force, about the specific steps the military could take to bolster recruitment in Maine and to market the valuable vocational training that comes with military service.

As the military struggles to reach recruiting goals, King urged the officers to look into solutions for reaching potential recruits in Maine and other northeastern states.

“I'd be interested in some data on geographic diversity. In other words, where are your recruits coming from? I'm concerned. I've seen data in the past that our all-volunteer Army and Navy and Marines and Coast Guard and Air Force are turning into a geographically limited body. In other words, more recruiting from the South and Southwest, or more people coming in rather than from the North and the Northeast,” Senator King said. “So, I'd be interested in that data. One of the problems — I’m from Maine — one of the problems is we've lost active duty military bases in the Northeast almost entirely. So, our young people don't ever see anybody in uniform. We had a Naval Air Station in Brunswick for 60 years, and kids grew up in Brunswick seeing the Navy on the street, and they were their coaches and their friends and their school teachers. That's something we have to sort of actively overcome.”

Senator King also highlighted the critical vocational training and leadership that comes with military service – and urged the military to use this information in their recruiting and marketing campaigns.

“There are few jobs in our society where a young person can have as much responsibility and access to training as in the military. You should sell that. I seriously think I'd like to see an ad in the Super Bowl that says, you want to get a head start, join the army, join the navy,” said Senator King. “It's an opportunity that young people have that I don't think is marketed as much. I see the ads, you know a few good men, and they're good. But one of your selling points is that you're giving people an opportunity at training that they'd have to pay thousands of dollars for if they were going to a community college or an access to leadership that they would never get at the age of 22 or 23 or 24. So, that's free advice for what it's worth.”

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator King has worked to ensure the Armed Forces are able to provide opportunities for young Americans and can meet recruitment goals necessary to protect American interests. He has repeatedly pressed top Pentagon nominees about the concerning shift in the U.S. military’s active duty members increasingly coming from the South and West, and the decline in military representation from the Northeast and Midwest. In the Senate-passed FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act, Senator King also secured a provision encouraging the DOD to focus America’s recruiting efforts on remote geographic areas lacking military infrastructure and presence.

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