The New York Army National Guard was tops in recruiting and retaining Citizen Soldiers in 2025 out of the 54 state and territorial Army Guards in the United States.
This was the fourth year in a row in which the New York Army Guard was the best in recruiting.
During federal fiscal year 2025, which ended on Sept. 30, the New York Army Guard recruited and retained a larger percentage of Soldiers -relative to its assigned strength-than the 53 other state and territorial National Guards.
Authorized strength is based on the number and type of units in a military force.
The New York Army Guard’s assigned strength on Sept. 30, 2025, was 11,700. This is 113 percent of the force’s authorized strength of 10,342 Soldiers.
Since Sept. 30, the New York Army National Guard added another 193 Soldiers to its ranks, with year end strength standing at 11,893.
The Army National Guard assigns annual recruiting success scores based on recruiting of enlisted and officer personnel, retaining Soldiers in the ranks, and the number of Soldiers who leave each state’s Army Guard.
For 2025 the New York Army Guard’s score was 134.29. The next highest score was 132.73 for the Rhode Island Army National Guard.”Recruiting and retention is central to the culture of the New York Army National Guard,” said Major General Michel Natali, the New York National Guard’s assistant adjutant general, Army.
“Recruiting and retaining our Soldiers is a commonly understood priority at every echelon of our organization. In order to perform the wide variety of state and federal missions we respond to, we would be unable to do so without our most essential resource-our people,” Natali explained.
During federal fiscal year 2025 the New York Army National Guard recruited 1,878 enlisted Soldiers, 32 warrant officers and 155 officers for a total of 2,065 personnel. This number also includes Soldiers who transferred into the New York Army Guard from other states.At the same time, New York Army Guard reenlisted 1,819 Soldiers whose enlistments were expiring.
This is also the fifth year that New York was the top recruiting and retention state for the National Guard’s 10 largest state Army Guard’s.
The New York Army National Guard is currently the fourth largest Army Guard in the United States.
Lt. Col. John Harder, the commander of New York’s 303 Soldier-strong recruiting and retention battalion, credited the 130 production recruiters for the battalion’s success.
“Our partnerships with local high schools, colleges and organizations along with the professionalism of our recruiting force truly make the difference,” Harder said.
“The Army National Guard is just as much a part of the community as your local fire department or high school. Our recruiters are typically from the towns or cities they recruit from and personify the ‘Citizen-Soldier’ in all they do. This allows them to connect at level that other services cannot,” Harder added.
The New York Army National Guard’s units include an Army division headquarters, a combat aviation brigade, an infantry brigade, a logistics support sustainment brigade, and a brigade-sized troop command which encompasses many combat support and military police elements.
The New York Air National Guard’s 33 Airman recruiting force finished second in overall Air National Guard recruiting for federal fiscal year 2025.
The New York Air Guard recruited 671 Airmen in fiscal year 2025.The Ohio Air Guard, with 675 recruits was in first place. The California Air Guard, with 491 new Airmen was in third place.
The New York Air National Guard, with five air wings and the Eastern Air Defense Sector, which is responsible for the air defense of the eastern United States, is the largest Air Guard in the nation.
At the end of federal fiscal year 2025, the New York Air National Guard had a strength of 5901 Airmen, which was 100.99 percent of authorized strength.At the end of federal fiscal year 2024, the New York Air National Guard’s strength was 5,764, or 99 percent of its authorized strength.
The New York National Guard is the second largest in the Nation with a total strength of 17,675. Only the Texas National Guard with over 22,000 Army and Air Guardsmen is larger.
