Sailors stand in formation at Naval Station Rota, Spain, on June 12, 2025. The Navy met its 2025 recruiting goal three months ahead of schedule, according to a service statement this week. (Drace Wilson/U.S. Navy)

The Navy is having a banner year for filling its ranks, this week meeting the 2025 target of signing up more than 40,000 future sailors well before the end of the annual recruiting period, according to the service.

It had contracted 40,600 recruits as of Wednesday, three months before the Sept. 30 conclusion of the fiscal year, a Navy statement the same day said.

The achievement reflects focus and the ability to capitalize on the previous year’s momentum, the statement said. The total of 40,978 future sailors contracted in 2024 was the highest since 2002, the service said.

Last year, the Navy beat its recruitment goal by 378.

“More qualified and motivated Americans than ever are stepping forward and answering the call to serve their country,” Navy Secretary John Phelan said in the statement.

Meeting the goal early will allow the service to be more thorough in its efforts to match recruits’ fields of interest with fleet needs, the service said.

Recent Navy recruiting success was due in part to real-time monitoring of recruitment data and introduction of a prep course for potential recruits designed to improve accession success, the service said.

The Navy also noted that since November, its recruitment had soared. That was evidence of President Donald Trump’s leadership and recruiters’ hard work, the statement said.

“When we remove barriers, accelerate processes, and meet people where they are, the right individuals answer the call,” Rear Adm. Jim Waters, commander of Navy Recruiting Command, said in the statement.

The Navy’s announcement follows a similar statement earlier this month saying the Army had surpassed 61,000 soldier contracts. That was the earliest the Army had met its active-duty recruiting goal in more than a decade, officials said.

It also came on the same day that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the formation of a task force charged with bolstering and coordinating recruitment by the military services.

The working group would focus on quickly positioning the services to build on recent recruiting momentum, overcome obstacles and remain competitive, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The task force is expected to make an initial report and recruiting environment assessment in 30 days followed by a list of policy recommendations and legislative proposals about two months later.