Air Force Names New Enlisted Recruiting Commander to Expand the Ranks

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

The Air Force appointed a colonel to head enlisted recruiting, more than 18 months after combining officer and enlisted recruiting into a single organization.

Col. Lacresha A. Merkle took command of Air Force Recruiting Services on July 30 at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph. She will report to Brig. Gen. Jeffrey W. Nelson, who heads the Air Force Accessions Center, which combines AFRS and the Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions into a single organization.

The Holm Center, at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., used to be part of Air University before being folded into the Air Force Accessions Center. Nelson has been dual-hatted for the past 18 months or so overseeing both commands.

 “Today’s assumption of command represents more than organizational change; it marks our commitment to building a seamless, modern accessions enterprise,” Nelson said in the AFAC release.

The Air Force combined the accessions activities in December 2024 to “streamline” enlisted and officer accessions as it dug out of 2023, when it failed to meet recruiting goals for the first time since 1999. The Air Force met its goals in 2024 and 2025 and this year reached its target five months early, bringing in 32,750 recruits—the most since 2004.

Merkle arrives as the Air Force and Space Force combined plan to add 12,700 more uniformed personnel, including 8,900 Airmen and 2,800 Guardians. It’s not clear yet how that breaks down between officer and enlisted accessions.

If funded by Congress and achieved by recruiters, the Air Force would end fiscal 2027 with 330,400 Airmen, the most since 2022. The Space Force would end the year with 12,795 Guardians, the most ever, en route to a doubling in size over five years, according to Space Force plans.

The Space Force has been the most officer-heavy of the military branches, with a roughly 50/50 split between officers and enlisted.

In the release, Merkle said she wanted to “sharpen our recruiting pipeline.” Merkle comes to the post after commanding the 360^th Recruiting Group in New Cumberland, Pa., where she oversaw more than 960 Airmen spread across 21 states and Europe, according to her official biography.

Joining Merkle at AFRS is Chief Master Sgt. Jake Fason, who took over as the new AFRS command chief during the same July ceremony.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org