Army raises enlistment age to 42, eases marijuana restrictions

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Army raises enlistment age to 42, eases marijuana restrictions

New recruiting rules bump the age limit for recruits from 35 to 42. Easing restrictions on a single marijuana possession conviction “accounts for changes in society,” one expert said.

Patty Nieberg / Published Mar 24, 2026 4:18 PM EDT /

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U.S. Army Recruits and Soldiers with the New Jersey National Guard’s Recruit Sustainment Program conduct the weekend drill at the National Guard Training Center in Sea Girt, N.J., March 5, 2026. The Recruit Sustainment Program is a program of the United States Army National Guard designed to introduce new recruits to the fundamentals of the U.S. Army before they leave for Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Seth Cohen)


The Army upped the age cap for enlistment from 35 to 42 years old, amid other changes to its enlistment policies. Army photo by Sgt. Seth Cohen.

A major update to Army recruiting regulations this week raises the maximum age a recruit can join to 42, and removes a barrier to joining for recruits with a single legal conviction for marijuana or drug paraphernalia possession.

The Army’s previous limit was 35, though exceptions are occasionally made. The higher age limit brings the Army in line with other services’ limits of 41 in the Navy and 42 in the Air Force and Space Force, Kate Kuzminski, who studies military recruiting for the Center for a New American Security, told Task & Purpose.

Army recruiting officials have noted in recent years that the average age of recruits is increasing, with officials telling reporters in 2024 that the average recruit was 22 years, 4 months, and that it was still “going up.”

Kuzminski said the change has positives and negatives. According to a report she authored for the RAND Corporation, many older recruits scored higher on enlistment qualification tests than recruits who joined before 20. Those older recruits were also more likely to reenlist and be promoted than their younger peers. ... However, older recruits were also less likely to graduate from basic training and had higher attrition rates.

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