The U.S. Army on Tuesday announced that it surpassed its recruitment goal in December, marking what it claimed was the "most productive December in 15 years."

The announcement signals a major turnaround for the branch, which has faced many challenges in recent years in meeting its recruitment goals. The military as a whole has experienced recruitment shortages, but the Army did meet its recruitment goal in fiscal year 2024, which ended last September.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday credited President Donald Trump's reelection in November for the following month's surge in recruits, which saw approximately 346 new recruits every day in December. 

"BOTTOM LINE: America’s youth want to serve under the bold & strong 'America First' leadership of Donald Trump," Hegseth wrote on X.

The Army's milestone as of January 2025, means the service is already almost halfway to its recruiting goals for the current fiscal year. The Army is hoping to recruit 61,000 people by the end of the fiscal year, per Military.com.

The Army is also expected to create 10 additional basic training units in Missouri and Oklahoma, in order to train the new surge of soldiers. The new units would help the service train approximately 9,600 new recruits per year, the outlet reported.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.