The Air Force adjusted its fiscal 2026 recruiting goal down by a few hundred enlisted Airmen due to higher-than-expected retention and the number of available training slots—but it is aiming high in fiscal 2027 with its biggest goal for the Active-Duty Air Force in nearly 25 years, and the Space Force has set its largest recruitment target ever.
In an Oct. 1 release touting its successes in fiscal 2026, the Air Force Recruiting Service said it “met its recruiting goals” and enlisted 31,950 Airmen into the Air Force and 730 Guardians into the Space Force.
That Air Force number is 800 fewer than the 32,750 recruits the service cited in April when it announced it had accomplished its goal five months ahead of schedule. Headquarters Air Force shifted the goal this summer, a spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine, as it adjusted to the “realities” of retention and the number of slots available at Basic Military Training. Every military service has an end strength authorized every year by Congress, and if retention is higher than expected, the service can only add so many recruits. BMT also can be limited by resources or available training dates.
The Air Force spokesperson said recruits were not cut but rather added to the Delayed Entry Program where they await their turn to start Basic Military Training. There are currently 15,799 recruits in the DEP, giving the Air Force Recruiting Service a healthy backlog to draw upon to start the new fiscal year.
That could prove crucial as AFRS attempts to pull off a massive 2027. Another spokesperson confirmed its goals for next year are 36,300 non-prior service enlisted Airmen for the Active-Duty force, and 1,402 enlisted Guardians for the Space Force.
The Air Force’s recruiting goal hasn’t exceeded 35,000 since 2003, according to data compiled by Air & Space Forces Magazine. And the Space Force has never aimed for more than 900 new Guardians in its brief history.
Those big totals come as officials across the military say they are seeing historically high interest among potential recruits—and as the Pentagon pursues a major increase in resources and overall end strength.
“In [fiscal 2027], we will grow the force again by an additional 44,000 service members,” Pentagon comptroller Jules “Jay” W. Hurst III said in April. “This growth will provide the manpower needed to employ new capabilities, and it will improve readiness and quality of life by ensuring units are properly staffed for the missions we task them with.”
The Air Force in particular wants to increase its Active-Duty end strength by nearly 9,000, from 321,500 Airmen to 330,400, and the Space Force wants to add 2,800 Guardians, going from 10,400 to 13,200.
In its release, the Air Force Recruiting Service said it will adjust its strategies for 2027 “based on labor market trends, propensity-to-serve data, and career field demand signals.”
In a panel discussion last month at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber conference, Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for manpower, personnel, and services Lt. Gen. Jefferson O’Donnell said much of the service’s growth would be more “restorative” than “additive,” reversing declines in manning for key career fields.
“We are focused on making sure that we are prioritizing those things like maintenance and logistics and security forces to fill in those spots where we have been taking significant risk across our service,” O’Donnell said.