National Guard expects to miss its recruiting goals by thousands this year

The National Guard is expected to miss its recruiting goals by 9,000 members when the fiscal year ends next week, the chief of the National Guard bureau said Tuesday. 

The Army National Guard will miss its goal by 6,000, and the Air National Guard will be about 3,000 short, Gen. Dan Hokanson told reporters Tuesday. 

"[Recruiters] have told me pretty much unanimously, in every location I go, just how difficult the current recruiting challenges are that they're facing," Hokanson said. "For many of them, it's unprecedented in their time as a recruiter."