U.S. Army Faces Recruiting Woes Amid Iraq War

© Reuters 2005 ^ | Thu Mar 3, 2005 5:32 PM ET | Will Dunham

[Former Military Chick]

Erik Slavin / S&S
The Marine Corps for the second straight month in February missed its goal for signing up new recruits, the Marines said on March 2, 2005, in another sign of the Iraq war's effect on military recruiting. In February, Marines signed up 2,772 of a target of 2,964 (93.5 percent). Some of them will join a total force of 177,000. Marines from 2nd RECON Bravo Co stand guard in Al Anbar province, west of Iraq, Jan. 27.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army has fallen behind its recruiting goals, officials said on Thursday, amid the violence of an Iraq war that has now claimed more than 1,500 American lives.

"The war is obviously having an effect," said Army Recruiting Command spokesman Douglas Smith. "Our recruiters are having to spend more time with hesitation on the part of potential applicants and their families. People are very alert to the fact of the risks that go along with Army service."

The active-duty U.S. Army missed its recruiting target for February by 27.5 percent, and had slipped about 6 percent behind its year-to-date goal for fiscal 2005, which ends Sept. 30, the Army Recruiting Command said. That marked the first time since May 2000 the Army missed a monthly recruiting goal.

"It is a matter of concern," said chief Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita, adding the Army had increased enlistment bonuses and boosted by 20 percent its number of recruiters.

The Army Reserve and Army National Guard, whose part-time soldiers have shouldered a heavy load in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, also are reporting recruiting shortfalls. The Army Reserve missed its goals in January and February and is behind its recruiting targets for the year.

The Army National Guard, which missed its 2004 recruiting target, did not provide February numbers, but said it had shortfalls for the first four months of the current fiscal year through January.

Separately, the Marine Corps said on Wednesday it missed its goals for recruits signing up in January and February. The Marines said they met last month's target for new recruits actually entering boot camps.

The Army and Marines provide the ground forces battling a violent insurgency in Iraq.

'BASIC BARGAIN'

The United States ended the draft and went to an all-volunteer military in 1973 amid the tumult of the Vietnam War era. The Iraq war represents the first test of the all-volunteer military in a protracted war-time environment, said Lexington Institute defense analyst Loren Thompson.

"The basic bargain the all-volunteer force offers is secure employment at a middle-class salary, in return for which war-fighters periodically risk their lives," Thompson said.

Thompson said most of the conflicts in the all-volunteer era had been brief or minor, adding, "Now, we get to test the proposition of whether people will serve when their lives might be on the line in large numbers."

An improving economy and job opportunities in the civilian sector also have affected recruiting, Smith said.

He said the Army could offer recruits no guarantees about duty in Iraq. "Recruiters have to be quite up-front with applicants in saying that we can't tell you for sure whether or not -- or when -- you're going to be deployed," Smith said.

Di Rita said the Army believes it can meet its recruiting goals for the year.

The 500,000-strong Army has not missed an annual recruiting goal since 1999, and aims for 80,000 recruits in 2005. It fell 1,936 short of its February goal of 7,050, and through February was 1,823 short of its year-to-date goal of 29,185 recruits.

The 210,000-strong Army Reserve has set a 2005 goal of 22,175 recruits. Through February, it was 643 behind its target of 6,230 after falling 330 short of its monthly goal of 1,320.

The 345,000-strong Army National Guard fell about 7,000 short of last year's recruiting goal of 56,000. It aims for 63,000 recruits this year. Through January, it was 4,014 behind its target of 16,835.

[Former Military Chick]

Not much in the news if tbey have to recycle stuff like this.

[Peach]

I thought I read an article on FR a few weeks ago that said the military was exceeding their goal on re-enlistments and so they weren't focusing on new enlistments.

[Tribune7]

And in completely unrelated news, the unemployment rate has fallen to 5.2 percent -- the lowest since Septmenber 2001.

[Flashman_at_the_charge]

People are very alert to the fact of the risks that go along with Army service.

This is a good thing IMHO. We live in dangerous times.

[Old Sarge]

As a former Army Guard Recruiter, I've mentioned on many places here that there's one big reason that numbers fell off in '04, and that was Big Army's Stop Loss.

Transfers from Big Army to the Guard was our largest source of manpower. When the Stop Loss went into effect, the well dried up.

And there are new enlistments all the time. I met a few dozen teens who, after they had things explained to them about the Guard, were very interested, if not enthusiatic about enlisting.

[Former Military Chick]

You know it just goes back and fourth. I have read so many different articles it is hard to see the truth. Will do a bit of research and see if we cannot get to the truth on this subject.

Thanks for the comment, Peach.

[MoJo2001]

Prayers for a sharp rise in recruiting across the board for our military.

Also, a prayer for military pay raises as well.

As a matter of fact, anything they want is fine by me.

WHATEVER THEY WANT---> GIVE IT TO THEM!

[Former Military Chick]

I am with you in the prayers! Thanks MoJo.

[uncbob]

With the country at risk it is NOT a good sign that recruitments are off

[MoJo2001]

Maybe it's me, but this is Reuters writing the story. And we tend to know that they hyperventilate any story to make America look bad.

So? I'm not sure how much of this story is true. Like anyone in Washington, even the Pentagon has folks that want to be quoted.

I remain optimistic and will just pray!

[drc43]

Quit putting soldiers on trial for actions in combat that tick off some reporter.

[Tai_Chung]

The 500,000-strong Army has not missed an annual recruiting goal since 1999, and aims for 80,000 recruits in 2005.

The goal for FY2004 was 77,000 recruits. The Army is required to recruit many more in a much tighter labor market.

[highlandbreeze]

Okay. Can I see my husband every once in a while?

Once every blue moon would be nice. Conjugal visits are a good thing.

[MoJo2001]

Sweetie,
If I could make that happen for you, I would have him home about 5 minutes ago.

Thank you for your husband and your family's service to America. God Bless You!

[highlandbreeze]

;)

[Steel Wolf]

I suspect that the retention / recruitment problem is being papered over in a very, very serious way. We were briefed by a recruiter today, and while he was a very positive, motivated guy, he inadvertantly said a lot of stuff that really sounded desperate.

Another odd thing is the promotions situation. Another part of our briefing today dealt with advancements, and it was downright bizarre. That's another topic in and of itself, but they're talking about mandatory promotions to E5, forced DA selected Warrant Officers, and a lot of other crazy stuff that sounds like they're scrambling to move bodies upward. They're pulling people off of missions to go be recruiters, and paying $450 extra a month for recruiter pay, plus if you enlist a target number of people, you win an automatic promotion.

Needless to say, this is all a bunch of crap that I heartily disagree with.

And if we are getting people, are they the right ones? Up to $20k for signing up, $70k for college. We may be still making numbers, but it's not for the right reasons.

Of course, this wouldn't be an issue if our retention wasn't so lousy, especially in a lot of specialized MOSs. But, since the Army is hell bent on not fixing itself, they're just going to throw cash at people until the numbers are good.

[Modok]

The military needs to correct some issues it seems to have with a few individual recruiters and the ethics they demonstrate. That said, it looks like a hard job.

[Tai_Chung]

Active duty Army military personnel, end strength

2003.....480,000
2002.....480,000
2001.....480,000
2000.....480,000
1999.....480,000
1998.....495,000
1996.....495,000
1995.....510,000
1994.....540,000
1993.....575,000
1992.....611,300

[Ben Chad]

Maybe some of the prosecutions of soldiers and Marines for killing enemy combatants has had a chilling effect.

[uncbob]

I am not

Bush needs to get on message and stay there no matter what the MSM does

We are in perilous times

IRAN and SYRIA have to be dealt with and soon and I don't think we have the military capability to do it and I doubt the public is sufficiently aware of the magnitude of the problem