US Army Raises Enlistment Age, Relaxes Cannabis Conviction Policy

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is raising its maximum enlistment age from 35 to 42 and changing its policy to allow recruits with a single conviction for cannabis possession or possession of drug paraphernalia to enlist without a waiver. 

The changes are part of several adjustments to the Army’s enlistment program and will align it with the Air Force and Space Force, according to an unclassified Army memo dated March 20. Each military branch sets its own upper age limits for active-duty enlistment. All begin at 17 with parental permission or 18 without, but caps differ: the Navy and Coast Guard at 41, and the Marine Corps at 28. Exceptions to the upper limits are granted on a case-by-case basis. 

The military temporarily raised its maximum enlistment age to 42 in 2006 but dropped it back to 35 in 2016 because the Army struggled to fill ranks amid major combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a Stars and Stripes report. The Air Force and Space Force raised their age limits in 2023 amid a years-long slump in enlistment numbers.