The U.S. military has seen an increase in recruiting in the past few months, with the Army and Navy both achieving fiscal year recruiting goals ahead of schedule, while the Air Force is on track to do the same.
Now, the Defense Department created a team to determine how to continue that recruiting success.
"To build on this incredible momentum, [Defense] Secretary [Pete] Hegseth has directed the creation of a Military Recruitment Task Force within the Department of Defense," said Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson during the Weekly Sitrep video. "Being the most lethal force on the planet means continuing to attract the best possible recruits, and we are just getting started."
The newly created task force will, among other things, ensure unified messaging across all service recruiting, develop strategies to expand eligibility, generate interest in serving and remove barriers that hinder recruitment and onboarding.
"Given the recent positive momentum, the department seeks to capitalize on the gains made in recruiting since the election of President [Donald J.] Trump in November 2024," Hegseth wrote in the memorandum, which directed the creation of the task force. "By analyzing the current recruiting efforts and trends, the Military Service Recruitment Task Force will ensure that the department stands ready to consistently attract, prospect and retain talent to meet current and future force requirements."
Also this week, during a hearing with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, June 18, 2025, Hegseth, along with Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, performing the duties of the Defense Department comptroller, testified on the department's fiscal year 2026 budget request.
"Fully resourcing the Department of Defense is a national security imperative," Wilson said. "By investing in new ships, planes, icebreakers, autonomous systems and Golden Dome — our warfighters will be adequately prepared to face a myriad of 21st-century threats."
Earlier this month, the Office of Management and Budget released the president's recommendations on FY26 discretionary funding levels to Congress.
While a full presidential budget recommendation has not yet been released, the proposal includes an increase in DOD's budget to approximately $961.6 billion, about $113.3 billion higher than the enacted budget for the department this year.
"This budget makes historic investments in living conditions, in barracks, in base housing," Hegseth said during the hearing. "This budget reforms the [permanent change of station] process to reduce the cost and stress of moves for families — we've already seen changes there — and we improve the quality of care provided by our defense health care system."
The secretary told lawmakers DOD's FY26 budget includes, among other things, $25 billion for the Golden Dome missile defense shield, $62 billion to modernize and sustain America's nuclear forces and $3.5 billion for the F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance aircraft. Also included in the budget is $47 billion for Navy ship construction and support to military service members and their families.
"The budget makes meaningful investments in our service members and their families, improving quality of life for housing, medical care and the ever-important moving process," Caine said. "As our most precious asset, we have to deliver for our people."
The department also lent a hand to the Department of Homeland Security this week, Wilson said. The secretary authorized the mobilization of up to 700 military personnel to provide administrative support to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Florida, Louisiana and Texas.
"From Los Angeles to the southern border, we are working alongside our interagency partners to protect federal agents [and] federal property and to secure our border," she said.
Service members tapped to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement are drawn from all components and operate in a Title 10 duty status, said Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell.
"[They] will provide logistical support and conduct administrative and clerical functions associated with the processing of illegal aliens at ICE detention facilities," Parnell said. "They will not directly participate in law enforcement activities."
DOD's support frees up Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel to focus on their mission, he noted, adding, "The department remains committed to securing 100% operational control of the border."
Finally this week, at the direction of the president, Greenland was shifted from the U.S. European Command's area of responsibility to the U.S. Northern Command's area of responsibility — part of a change to the unified command plan, which details the organization of combatant commands around the globe.
"This change reflects President Trump's focus on Arctic security and will strengthen our ability to defend the U.S. homeland," Wilson said.
The department reviews the plan every two years to ensure each combatant command is structured correctly and has the right resources to carry out assigned missions and protect U.S. interests.