Navy leaders are focused on positioning the nation's sea service as a world class employer in building upon this year's recruiting and retention success, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa M. Franchetti said yesterday.
After falling short of its recruiting goal last year, the Navy exceeded its target in fiscal year 2024 with 40,978 new sailors joining the ranks, while at the same time posting strong retention figures across the enlisted force.
Aiding this year's success, Franchetti said, were efforts to tap into the key motivations that drive the nation's young people to serve.
"I think right now, they're motivated to stay in the Navy," Franchetti said during a discussion hosted by the Stimson Center, a foreign affairs think tank, in Washington.
"I think they're really excited about our mission," she said. "They want to serve something greater than themselves."
Franchetti noted that with nearly 150 career specializations, including a recently created robotics rating, the Navy offers ample opportunity for new recruits to apply their talents and expand their interests.
She said Navy leaders have focused on ways to expose more young people to those opportunities, including making sure recruiting stations are fully manned and using community events such as Navy fleet weeks to "introduce the American people to their Navy."
The Navy also made key changes to improve recruiting process efficiencies and has introduced a future sailor prep course to help potential recruits improve academically and physically in order to join.
And keeping those sailors in the Navy once they have made it to the fleet has also been a major focus of leaders across the service.
Franchetti noted several initiatives aimed at improving sailors' quality of life ranging from 24/7 fitness centers to improving access to parking.
"I think some of those things may seem like small things, but they're actually big things in the life of a sailor," she said.
The Navy has also focused on unaccompanied housing options for sailors stationed aboard ships to ensure "people have an opportunity to separate their work life from their home life, especially in shipyards," Franchetti said.
She noted the progress the Navy has made in offering unaccompanied housing options starting at the Newport News Shipyard and said the service plans to scale those options to other fleet concentrations in the future.
"A lot of folks are getting exposed to our war fighting mentality and the work that we're doing for our nation every day, and I think they want to be part of it," Franchetti said. "So, I'm going to appeal to that and continue to help those people stay on the Navy team."