It looks as if the US Army won't be able to live up to its recruitment expectations this year, since a considerable number of prospects simply cannot cut the mustard.
Speaking at a congressional hearing this week, US Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said they are not going to "make" the projected goal of 65,000 new soldiers.
"We are doing everything we can to get as close to it as possible; we are going to fall short," she noted.
According to local press reports, the US Army had also missed its recruitment target of 60,000 last year, falling short by about 15,000 "active-duty recruits."
This trend is due to the considerable number of prospective recruits turning out to be unfit for service, or either failing the entrance exam meant to gauge their intelligence or "being too overweight to serve," one US media outlet revealed.
Only about 23% of Americans aged 17 to 24 can meet the Army’s expectations, the media outlet notes, citing Pentagon figures.