Future Servicemember Preparatory Courses: Background and Issues for Congress

The Constitution endows Congress with broad power over the Armed Forces, including to “raise and support Armies” and “provide and maintain a Navy.” In the exercise of these authorities, Congress typically sets the overall size—or end-strength—of the Armed Forces in an annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Armed Forces have sometimes failed to meet these authorized end-strengths, due in part to contemporary recruiting shortfalls. In response to these shortfalls, the Army and Navy have established programs—collectively called the Future Servicemember Preparatory Courses (FSPC)—that attempt to expand the pool of eligible recruits through remedial education and physical training. The courses consist of two tracks. The first focuses on physical fitness and aims to reduce recruits’ body fat to within 2% of accession standard. The second focuses on improving recruits’ Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) scores. In the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY2024 NDAA), Congress required the services to establish FSPC programs under certain circumstances. The Air Force and Marine Corps have stated that they do not plan to establish analogous programs. The Coast Guard has established an analogue, called the Future Sentinel Preparatory Course, though this report will focus on the military services exclusively. The FY2024 NDAA also established reporting requirements for the program, which Congress expanded in the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY2025 NDAA). Among the issues Congress may consider are overall budget for the FSPC programs; degree to which the services are adhering to established admission and graduation standards for the programs; adequacy of present resourcing for the programs; potential impact on recruit quality; degree to which the FSPCs support high-aptitude military occupational specialty (MOS) staffing; and impact on enlisted personnel attrition rates. Oversight options Congress may consider include requesting or requiring further information from the Department of Defense (DOD), which is “using a secondary Department of War designation,” under Executive Order 14347 dated September 5, 2025, for the purpose of oversight; directing an external assessment of one or more aspects of the FSPCs; modifying the programs’ funding, staffing requirements, admission requirements, or graduation requirements; pursuing society-wide policies to increase the share of the population that meets military accession standards; and permitting the programs to continue with the current level of oversight.