No recruitment impact—tech solves and high-priority missions will be staffed

As the U.S. military becomes more technologically advanced with unmanned weapons such as drones, the various branches likely require less people. In addition, such work as IT services and jobs like painting ships can be farmed out to civilians. Despite this, Asch said military recruiting requirements "reflect the technology." But does this mean national security is at risk? Does the military lack the forces needed to defend the nation if it were attacked? Hewitt said the Army does not expect its recruitment "shortfall to negatively impact our ability to fulfill our requirements as outlined in the current National Defense Strategy." Asch also said that for the time being, national security being endangered is not a major concern. She said if a military branch is lacking in manpower, "what will happen is they'll just be delayed on lower priority things ... It becomes more of a problem of operational capability if this is an ongoing problem for a few years ... If the recruiting problem is sustained for a while, maybe even the higher priority units will start having issues potentially."