New York Army National Guard is tops in recruiting and retention for third year

LATHAM, N.Y. -- The New York Army National Guard was number one out of 54 state and territorial Army National Guards in recruiting and retaining Soldiers for the 2024 federal fiscal year.

This marks the third year in a row that New York has been tops in retaining Army Guard Soldiers while bringing new Soldiers on board.

Major General Ray Shields, the adjutant general of New York, said a focus on Soldiers led to the recruiting and retention success.

"The New York Army National Guard has led the nation in recruiting and retention for the last four years because we focus on our people," Shields said.

"Our commitment is demonstrated every day by the care, communication, and commitment to our Soldiers," he added.

The assigned strength for New York's Army Guard as of Sept. 30, 2024 - the end of the federal fiscal year-was 11,339. The New York Army National Guard's strength at the start of the 12 month period, on October 1, 2023, was 10,970.

The New York Army National Guard's authorized strength is 10,340 Soldiers, with a goal strength at the end of fiscal 2024 set at 11,140 personnel.

This means that despite Soldiers retiring or deciding to move on after one or two enlistments, the New York Army National Guard strength stood at 109 percent of the authorized figure.

The number of Soldiers was 101 percent of the strength goal set for New York's Army Guard.

The Army National Guard assigns a weighted score to state Guard's based on enlisted Soldier recruiting, officer recruiting, and Soldier retention and attrition in the force as Soldiers leave.

The New York Army National Guard scored 126.4 percent on this scale. The next highest state was Georgia with a score of 122.9 percent.

During fiscal year 2024 the New York Army National Guard recruiting team enlisted 1,519 Soldiers while another 200 officers and warrant officers joined the force.

Keeping New York's Army Guard full is important for readiness, according to Maj. Gen. Michel Natali, New York's assistant adjutant general, Army.

"Our recruiting and retention success directly contributes to the ability of the New York Army National Guard to respond to short notice or no-notice emergencies, most recently in response to hurricanes impacting North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida," Natali said.

Recruiting additional Soldiers also allows New York to expand its force structure, Natali said.

New York activated a new division artillery headquarters for the 42nd Infantry Division and created a finance battalion headquarters because there were enough Soldiers to fill those new units, he explained.

The activations of the 42nd Division Artillery and the 27th Finance Battalion are two recent examples in which personnel strength factored into force structure decisions, he said.

The 220 full-time Soldiers assigned to recruiting duty for the New York Army National Guard, take pride in their mission, according to Lt. Col. Josh Heimroth, the commander of the New York recruiting and retention battalion.

The recruiters are the "life-blood" of the effort to keep Soldiers in the National Guard and bring in new one's Heimroth said.

"The success of the New York Army National Guard's recruiting and retention battalion is a direct result of our highly-trained recruiters," he said.

"Their daily dedication, professionalism, and willingness to increase individual proficiency in the recruiting career management field has paid dividends," he emphasized.

New York has also pushed more Soldiers into recruiting duty, Shields said.

"We invest additional recruiters and retention personnel above what we are authorized to ensure we focus on our highest priority, "Shields said.

"Other than Soldier safety, we have no higher priority than assigned unit strength."

"Our success can be summed up in short - we care about our Soldiers, their families, and their personal growth, while welcoming new Soldiers to our team with open arms," the adjutant general added.

The New York Army National Guard's units include an Army division headquarters, a combat aviation brigade, an infantry brigade, sustainment brigade, and a brigade-sized troop command which encompasses many combat support and military police elements.

It is the fourth largest Army National Guard in the country.

Meanwhile, the New York Air National Guard is also putting an effort into filling it's authorized strength of 5,822 Airmen.

The New York Air National Guard, with five air wings and an air defense sector, is the largest in the United States.

In fiscal 2023, the New York Air National Guard recruited 628 Airmen, the highest number of any of the nation's state Air Guard elements.

Currently the New York Air National Guard has an assigned strength of 5,768 Airmen.

The New York Air Guard has increased its recruiting force from 26 to 33 production recruiters to help bring in more recruits, according to Lt. Col. Kristen Gibson, the New York Air National Guard's recruiting and retention officer.

The New York Air Guard's goal is to hire an additional four recruiters before the end of the calendar year, Gibson said.

The Air Guard recruiters are focusing on education benefit as a way to attract new Airmen, especially tuition assistance at State University of New York -known as SUNY- -colleges, she added.

We are focused on our partnership with high schools across New York State, and bringing counselors, teachers and coaches' information on our tuition-free SUNY education benefit," Gibson said.

"We pay the cost of SUNY tuition to eligible Airmen upon enlistment, and have a great partnership with SUNY to support our Airmen as they serve our country and accomplish their bachelor's degree at the same time," Gibson said.

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