Posted on 10/26/2005 5:52:14 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 26, 2005) -- There are those who might focus on the fact that the Army missed its self-imposed recruiting goals in fiscal year 2005, yet ignore the fact that the total end strength and capabilities of the Army are what matter most.
The men and women of the Army clearly derive a great deal of satisfaction from their decision to serve our nation as evidenced by the fact the Army exceeded its re-enlistment goals across the board.
“America’s Army remains the pre-eminent land force in the world today,” said Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey. “What we need at this time is for Americans to continue to answer the call to duty just as they have during the Army’s 230 years of service to this nation.”
Historically, America’s Army has existed to deter enemies, and when necessary, fight and win the nation’s wars. But the Army does so much more - from maintaining peace in the Balkans, to building roads in Afghanistan, to helping the new democracy in Iraq, to supporting hurricane relief; the Army serves America’s interests.
The U.S. Congress typically funds the Active Army manpower program to support a 482,400 force. The Congressionally authorized end strength, however, is now 502,400 with authority to grow to 512,400 through FY09. Using emergency authority provided by Congress, the Army has increased the size of the active Army by nearly 13,000 troops since Sept. 11, 2001.
With 123,000 Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers activated, the Army currently has 616,000 Soldiers on active duty - and is successful at keeping Soldiers once they enlist.
“This success shows that Soldiers – and their families – clearly believe in what they’re doing,” Harvey said. “Army men and women recognize that the Army is a great place to grow personally and professionally.”
“To put this past year’s recruiting shortfall in perspective, the 73,400 people we recruited this year is within 2 percent of the average we have recruited each year over the past 10 years,” Harvey said. “Furthermore, we finished the last four months of the year very strongly, recruiting over 8,000 people each month.
“In order to free up our resources, we are transforming the way the Army does business - improving our business practices and streamlining our organizations. So, we are able to increase the personnel strength of the operational Army without increasing overall end strength,” he added.
To maintain the desired end strength of the Army, 72,000 patriots are needed to enlist in the Active Army next year. In order to continue to grow the Army, the fiscal year 2006 active-component recruiting mission is 80,000, as it was for FY05.
“We believe this will be a difficult mission and your Army needs the continued support of Congress and increased support from those who influence young Americans, helping them make life decisions,” said Secretary Harvey.
To widen the window of opportunity for all those choosing to answer the “call to duty,” Secretary Harvey has reviewed the Army’s policies and procedures to improve the accessions process. The Army High School Degree and test score standards have been realigned with Department of Defense standards which are still well above Congressional mandates. In another demonstration of the quality of America’s Army, 87 percent of the FY05 enlistees had traditional high school degrees while only 72 percent of the corresponding American population had such a degree.
The size and power of the Army is measured in total capability and the Army is more capable today than it was last year.
“We have increased numbers of combat brigades, support units of action, and deployable, ready units -- the new brigade combat teams are much more powerful units than previous brigades,” Harvey said.
“We have good momentum going into FY06,” Harvey said. “But we know this year will be challenging, too, and we are pulling out all stops to ensure we continue to recruit quality people. The U.S. Constitution says that the Congress, on behalf of the people of the United States, raises and supports armies, so recruiting isn’t just a challenge for the Army; it’s a challenge for the nation,” he added.
(Editor’s note: Bill Yamanaka serves in the Operational Plans Division of Army Public Affairs.)
Bet you didn't hear this from the LSM
Huah!
BTTT
Sheesh--the military--particularly the Army--does a terrible job of publicizing what is going right. This article is a great example. Hidden in the above numbers is this:
The United States Army finished the fiscal year ending on 30 September 2005 with an actual "end-strength" of 493,000 soldiers. This is an increase of 10,000 over the fiscal year 2004 authorized end-strength of 482,400.
The Army missed it's recruiting goal for 2005, but re-enlistments were higher than expected to explain the increased strength. Congress has authorized a new end-strength for the Army of 502,400 this year and an increase to 512,400 to be met by fiscal year 2009.
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