Tue, 31 Mar 2015The US military needs to do more to compete with corporate America for high-quality recruits, defence secretary Ash Carter said, as he announced the relaxation of enlistment standards, particularly for high-tech and cyber security roles.

According to Associated Press (AP), Carter said the military could ease age requirements to attract mid-career people or provide student loan repayments to attract graduates, but did not provide details.

During a speech at Fort Drum, New York, yesterday (30 March) he told soldiers he knew they had many job options when they left the military and added the US Department of Defense needed to be innovative and “to think outside the five-sided box” of the Pentagon to compete.

AP’s report continued to say Carter was considering other changes to help ensure the military attracted and retained the best and brightest, including improvements to retirement, promotion and evaluation systems and doing more to allow sabbaticals for service members.