FORT JOHNSON, La. • In recent years as the Army has struggled to meet its recruiting goals, the average age of those enlisting has crept up.

“We are seeing a more mature applicant pool,” said Maj. Gen. Johnny K. Davis, who leads the Army Recruiting Command during a panel in October.

The average age of new recruits is now 22. While the overall percentage of the military 25 or younger is creeping down from 46.6% in 2005 to 43.5% in 2022, Army demographic data shows.

While covering the grueling field training at Fort Johnson, La., for Fort Carson’s 1st Stryker Brigade this fall, The Gazette spoke with several soldiers who enlisted when they were 24 or older and why the challenge appealed to them.

From HR to battlefield

Spc. Ron Rodriquez enlisted at 33 last year after working in human resource for eight years at a hospital. After so many years interviewing nurses, Rodriquez got inspired to pursue a career in medicine himself. It was a big change after studying international relations in college. He thought he hated science and so he took small steps, such as becoming a certified nursing assistant to make sure he could handle working with patients.

He expects the Army will help him take a deep dive into trauma medicine and so far he’s earned his emergency medical services licensure. In the Army, the licensure process is 17 weeks compared to a year in the civilian world, he said. He enjoys both calming people down and having the power and skill to wrap up bullet wounds, if necessary, he said.

“I’ve always done my best when I’ve dove in deep into something, and then if I survive, I survive,” Rodriquez said.

Basic training was a challenge, particularly after he bruised himself badly when he got up from push-ups to run 25 meters. That same day he also had to carry 80 pounds for about 4 miles and cramped everywhere, he said, but he pushed through.

“Mentally, it’s made me strong, and physically, it’s made me strong,” he said, of enlisting.

Achieving citizenship

Nepalese immigrant, Spc. Sunil Thapa, a wheel mechanic, enlisted after getting selected for a diversity visa to come to the U.S and immigrating in 2019. He was among about 55,000 people chosen annually for the visa meant to diversify those who are selected to come to the U.S. More than 22 million applied for a diversity visa in 2019, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.

Thapa was inspired to join the Army after watching movies at home in Nepal and enlisted about four years ago at 34 years old. It allowed him to gain his American citizenship in 2021, much faster than the traditional process.

For him, the language barrier was his largest challenge.

“Sometimes, I could not understand,” he explained, saying he would get irritated at himself.

Now at 38, on his second enlistment and suffering with both shoulder and back pain, he is planning to get out and open a restaurant.

“Nepalese food, Indian food, I love it,” he said.

Enlisting during COVID-19

Spc. Carnell White, a generator mechanic, enlisted at 24 in February 2020 when he was laid off from his job as a longshoreman in Houston during the pandemic. He wasn’t sure if he would be without work for months or years and he needed to provide for his young daughter, Laiyla, as a single father.

The Army appealed to him because his mom always wanted him to join and follow in the footsteps of his grandfathers and uncles.

Basic training was a little tough, as the oldest one in the group, he explained.

“The drill sergeant gave me the nickname ‘OG,'” White said.

White loves the challenge of being a mechanic and how a simple job can turn into four hours of work.

“You can get humbled real easy,” he said.

He hopes to make the Army his career because of the benefits. Although he is looking to change fields, perhaps to supply, so he can get home to his daughter earlier each day. In that case, he would tinker with cars in his spare time, he said.