Could a Canadian experiment help US Navy recruiting?

More than 100 young Canadians are spending a trial year in the Royal Canadian Navy as part of a new initiative that’s worth examining as a model for the U.S. Navy’s own recruiting efforts.

Participants in the Naval Experience Program, or NEP, begin with eight weeks of basic military training, then four weeks of naval training, and the balance of their year shadowing various jobs in the fleet—all with the pay and benefits due any other armed forces recruit. The point is "exposure to life in the Royal Canadian Navy....to help decide if life in the Navy is the right fit." If participants decide after the year to continue their service, they enjoy a streamlined accession to the fleet—and if they decide the Navy isn’t for them, they leave with a neat life experience and resume bullet.

Launched in April 2023, the NEP has 148 active participants—four more than its goal—and another 500-plus in the recruiting pipeline, Navy officials say. Just one of those nearing completion of their year has expressed interest in leaving, Royal Canadian Navy spokeswoman Sabrina Nash tells me.  With the participants in this first cohort just now nearing the end of the one-year trial, there's not yet data on how many will continue serving. But the program is demonstrating enough promise to continue.

Vice-Adm. Angus Topshee, who leads the Royal Canadian Navy, recently visited a class I teach at the U.S. Naval Academy. Topshee was visibly excited about the NEP, particularly as it relates to efforts to make Canada’s naval force as diverse as its population. Many of the reasons he cited for launching the recruiting program match our own Navy’s needs.

The U.S. Navy should take a close look at Canada’s novel idea. The service failed to meet its recruiting goals in fiscal 2023, and appears on track to fall short again. And several of the steps taken to boost recruiting—lowering the required score on the Armed Forces Qualification Test, and removing the requirement for a high school diploma or GED—have drawn criticism.

Creating a trial program for interested young people would allow potential recruits to see if the service is right for them, but—equally important—it would also allow the Navy to determine if the participants are a good fit for the service.

This would be in line with approaches touted by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy James Honea.  Last September, Franchetti told the Senate Armed Service Committee that the Navy must hold a “conversation with America” about what the service can offer, particularly for those who aren’t near fleet concentration areas or who don’t know a sailor. And Honea told Navy Times that his service branch is “probably the most difficult to explain to the person that’s never been part of the Navy.” A U.S. Navy Experience Program would meet both intentions; first-hand fleet experience would demystify much of what sea service entails.

To be sure, the U.S. Navy would not copy Canada’s NEP without modification. The program ought to be geared toward wooing participants for in-demand jobs (e.g., cyber security, engineering) as well as professions not traditionally considered as exclusively military (e.g., health care, logistics, legal). For many Americans, serving in the Navy is only about driving ships; they’re not familiar with the many professions that make up the backbone of service. A U.S. NEP could show sailors in such diverse work as human resources, legal, healthcare, or logistics. Such a program could also offer two options for participants: they could shadow a career they're already interested in, or like the Canadians, shadow numerous jobs to find a best fit.

Critics may call it folly to dedicate the time and resources to bring such a program to life. But at minimum, a U.S. NEP would provide additional personnel (guaranteed for a one-year term) to support the recruit-strapped service. Then, some—and hopefully many—will decide to continue in the Navy once the trial year is over. Their pipeline to service will be shortened since they’re already screened and trained. And if the program is deliberately structured to fill billets in high-need communities, it might well prove more cost-effective than current costly and insufficient methods.

And there’s one more benefit: NEP participants will invariably share their experiences over the course of the trial year, by social media and conversations, with friends and loved ones back home. This type of authentic word-of-mouth advertising can’t be bought. It worked in Canada: all of the promotion for the Canadian NEP were done without extra funds, spokeswoman Nash says. The program was marketed through organic social media content, outreach, and traditional media engagements.

The Navy is already thinking creatively when it comes to meeting its recruitment goals. Why not take things one step further and offer a program that lets Americans try on the Navy? Those of us who serve know what makes being in the Navy great. And while every sailor is a recruiter, isn’t the best endorsement first-hand experience?

All views represented are the author’s and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Navy, or Department of Defense.