Military sees thousands of soldier deferring plans to leave amid pandemic

Throughout the U.S. military, service members are re-enlisting and postponing their scheduled departure dates as a result of the pandemic.

A skyrocketing unemployment rate, unsteady job market, and unclear timeline of when things will return to normal have caused many soldiers who were planning on leaving the military to pursue other options to reevaluate their plans.

Those who planned on attending college in the fall are now uncertain that universities will be open come late summer and are instead opting to take advantage of the military’s new short-term extension option.

Numbers released last week confirm that the military has re-enlisted 52,000 soldiers this year, already surpassing their year-end goal of 50,000.

“What we’re seeing this year, which is directly related to COVID, is we do have a population of soldiers that what they were expecting at the end of the transition has suddenly disappeared,” said Sgt. Maj. Stuart Morgan, a senior Army career counselor. “And now you have a solider that is trying to go through a transition period that is now facing uncertainty on the outside.”

Air Force pilots have suddenly seen their outside career prospects deplete at an alarming rate, as major airlines have taken some of the most brutal hits during the pandemic. “I need stability in my life. There’s no steady income on the outside, or guaranteed income either. While other people are getting laid off and not working, we’re still collecting a paycheck and going to work,” said one pilot.

The Air Force will, however, is expecting to fall short of its recruiting goal for the year, a gap which is partially being filled in with soldiers who are choosing to re-enlist.

Due to the virus, the Marine Corps will likely not meet its goal for total force size this year. However, because of new options to extend enlistments for a few months or a year, the Corps will easily meet its retention goal of 12,600.