WASHINGTON — Pentagon leaders are considering a new recruiting campaign that would encourage young people to honor the legacy of assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk by joining the military, according to two officials familiar with the planning.

The idea would be to frame the recruiting campaign as a national call to service, the officials said. Possible slogans that Pentagon leaders have discussed include “Charlie has awakened a generation of warriors,” according to the officials.

Anthony Tata, who serves as undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, is leading the effort, the officials said.

As part of the potential new campaign, Pentagon leaders are considering using chapters of Kirk’s political organization, Turning Point USA, at schools across the U.S. as military recruitment centers, the officials said. That could include inviting recruiters to be present at events or advertising for the military at the chapters, one of them explained. President Donald Trump has credited Kirk and Turning Point USA with helping him win the 2024 election.

The officials did not know what the timing would be for rolling out the possible new recruitment campaign, and it’s not clear if it will ultimately happen. The idea is facing resistance from some Pentagon leaders who have privately warned those working on the effort that such a campaign could be perceived as the military trying to capitalize on Kirk’s death, the two officials said. Kirk did not serve in the armed forces.

Trump officials have sought to pay public homage to Kirk. The day after the assassination, Vice President JD Vance, who was close to Kirk, flew from Washington, D.C., to Utah to escort Kirk’s wife and his remains back to Arizona. Kirk’s casket was carried to Air Force Two by members of the military. And Trump, Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and several other members of the Cabinet are scheduled to speak at a memorial service for Kirk in Arizona on Sunday.

Those efforts have also extended to attempts to punish those who speak ill of Kirk or his assassination. As NBC News has previously reported, Hegseth last week told staff to actively search for any members of the military or others who work with the Defense Department who mocked or condoned Kirk’s death so that they could be punished, and called on members of the public to report posts critical of Kirk coming from people associated with the military.

Asked for comment by NBC News, the Defense Department provided a statement from chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell in which he said, “The media is so desperate to attack this administration’s success that they are now inventing lies about our recruitment efforts. Leadership matters, and under the strong leadership of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth men and women are coming out in droves to serve this great nation.”

The potential push comes as the Pentagon’s Military Service Recruitment Task Force, which Tata co-chairs, is warning of a possible drop in future recruits, according to two defense officials.

Trump and Hegseth have touted an uptick in recruiting since Trump’s inauguration, though it actually began under President Joe Biden after two years of shortfalls in 2022 and 2023. But that trend could be short-lived, in part because of societal and generational changes that are shrinking the overall number of Americans eligible to serve, and which show no signs of slowing. Kirk had a large following among young conservatives and Trump supporters, many of whom would be around the age a military recruitment campaign would typically target.

In June, the Pentagon established a recruitment task force to address military recruiting challenges, develop a forward-looking recruiting strategy and find ways to maintain momentum on recent recruiting increases. So far, none of its reports have been publicly released.

In a July press briefing, Parnell addressed the task force’s work, noting that the Pentagon believes 7% to 11% of Americans see military service as a viable path forward, down from 27% after 9/11. He praised recent recruiting wins but added that the great numbers “might not always be the case.”

He added, “While we have great recruiting numbers now, it might not always be the case. And so one of the things that we’re trying to achieve with this recruiting task force is answering the tough question about how do we set the conditions here culturally in this country to have more kids want to serve the country and see it as a viable career path.”

Hegseth was briefed last month on the task force’s findings and concerns about potential recruiting shortfalls on the horizon, according to one of the defense officials and an official familiar with the meeting.

Societal trends are also driving some concerns about a potential recruiting shortfall that could come soon, the defense official and another defense official said.

The U.S. saw a sharp drop in births after the economic downturn in 2007, 18 years ago, shrinking today’s pool of potential recruits. There are also fewer parents who have served in the military than in previous generations, resulting in fewer military kids following their moms and dads into service.

Recruiting has also been challenged by an increase in young people who do not qualify to serve because they are overweight, do not meet the academic testing requirements or have a history of taking medications that disqualify them from joining, such as antidepressants.

These trends, combined with challenges from the Covid pandemic, fueled the shortfalls in 2022 and 2023.

In 2022, the Army introduced the Future Soldier Preparatory Course, a program to help young people improve their physical fitness and their scores on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, known as the ASVAB test. According to the Army, almost 50,000 men and women have completed the course and moved to basic training, which has helped boost recruiting numbers.

But the task force has also found that part of the recruitment rebound in 2024 and 2025 has been due to the military dedicating billions of dollars to recruiting and retention bonuses, the two defense officials said.