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ArmyService SupportRank #18 of 101 by 4-year cost
79R

Recruiter

12-week pipeline · AIT (Recruiter Course) · Fort Knox, KY
Training Pipeline
$28K
12 weeks
Annual MILPERS
$93K
E-6/E-7, Special Duty (selected from experienced NCOs)
Equipment Burden
$8K
per year (amortized)
4-Year Total Cost
$430K
DoD investment
4-Year Cost Breakdown
Training Pipeline
$28K7%
Military Personnel (MILPERS × 4yr)
$370K86%
Equipment Burden (× 4yr)
$32K7%
Training: 7% · MILPERS: 86% · Equipment: 7%= $430K
By the Numbers

Each recruiter must fill the pipeline that justifies the entire system on this page. The Army spends $28K training a recruiter to recruit soldiers who will cost $18K–$580K to train. The meta-investment is staggering.

Annual Army recruiting budget: ~$600M. Annual Army training cost for everyone those recruiters bring in: several billion.

Training Pipeline
Duration
12 weeks
Type
AIT (Recruiter Course)
Location
Fort Knox, KY
Pipeline Cost
$28K

Army Recruiters are held to numerical quotas — typically 2–3 contracts per month. A recruiter who misses mission faces administrative action. The pressure to meet numbers has been cited in multiple DoD studies on recruiter misconduct.

Equipment & Annual Burden
Assigned Equipment
  • ·Government Vehicle
  • ·Laptop/Tablet (GFE)
  • ·Recruiting Station Equipment
  • ·Marketing Materials
Annual Equipment Burden
$8K/yr
Vehicle operating costs + GFE equipment amortized
Military Personnel Cost (Annual)
Grade BenchmarkE-6/E-7, Special Duty (selected from experienced NCOs)
Base MILPERS$88K/yr
Specialty Pay(Special Duty Assignment Pay (SDAP))+$5K/yr
Total Annual MILPERS$93K/yr
Specialty pays account for $5K annually (5% of total compensation).
Force Structure Context
Annual Accessions~4,500
Avg Career Length3 years
Annual Training Bill$126.0M
Total Force 4yr Cost$1.9B
Read 79R Reviews →← All MOS ProfilesAverage Per-Soldier Cost →
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Special Forces Candidate → 18 Series
$1.1M
4-year total
153A
Rotary Wing Aviator (Warrant Officer)
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89D
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Specialist
$617K
4-year total

Cost estimates derived from DoD Comptroller per-soldier analysis, RAND Corporation military personnel studies, CBO military compensation reports, service-specific training cost testimony, and published equipment unit costs. Error margin ±15%. Individual costs vary by duty station, assignment, and deployment tempo. This is Phase 3 of the Honest MOS DoD Budget Intelligence Roadmap.