As the military struggles for recruits, UH ROTC programs grow
The U.S. military is facing a major recruiting shortfall. Army rolls fell in 2022 by about 15,000 soldiers — or 25% — short of its 60,000 recruitment goal. It wasn’t alone: None of the military’s branches are making the numbers the Pentagon has set to build the sort of force policymakers envision.
But as the Pentagon struggles to look for recruits around the country, students continue to enroll in Reserve Officer Training Corps programs at the University of Hawaii where the Army, Air Force and Navy all have active programs on campus.
The Navy’s program launched in 2021 and began training Marine midshipmen in 2022, officially putting UH among the colleges to host an ROTC program for each military branch that has one. The Army program, which has been at UH for over 100 years, has about 130 cadets enrolled and training in the “Warrior Battalion.”
