Army recruiting is difficult because the economy is so good, says acting Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy.

The sustained 3.6% unemployment rate is the lowest since 1969, a period when the Army was drafting soldiers to fill the ranks, McCarthy said. To grow the force now, the Army hopes to add 2,000 more soldiers a year, and recruiters are going to have to look at their methods. 

“We need to get greater penetration into demographics where we have started to trail,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Sept. 12 hearing as the panel considers his nomination to become the permanent Army secretary.

McCarthy said the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps are friendly rivals in the hunt for recruits. “We all are competing against essentially the same pool,” he said.

The Army is looking for help by arranging meetings with mayors, school superintendents, civil leaders and even parks and recreation directors to talk about Army opportunities, he said. “With over 150 occupational specialties, there is vast opportunity for Americans to get technical skills and money for education,” he said.

The Army also has “changed our marketing strategy, and we are putting more funding and effort into digital marketing.”