Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has unveiled the new components in the Defense Department’s initiative to help the U.S. military attract and retain the workforce needed for future missions.
Carter announced the outreach and ROTC efforts as the fifth and sixth links of the Force of the Future initiative during his visit to City College of New York’s Manhattan campus, the Defense Department said Tuesday.
The new links are meant to grow the geographic, demographic and generational scope of the U.S. military when it comes to recruitment efforts.
“If we’re going to ensure we keep recruiting top talent, we have to help our fellow citizens get to know today’s military, even if they don’t have a parent, a neighbor or a coach who served,†Carter said.
The outreach link aims to develop department-wide military service marketing campaign, establish recognition of the DoD brand and generate interest to serve, with a scheduled launch of these efforts in 2018.
The sixth link is intended to support ROTC programs through collaboration with top tier universities, scholarship payments and stipends, rewards for ROTC cadets and internships or summer training.
