US Army ends hard recruiting year, woes persist
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-10-01 17:02

OMINOUS SIGN

But in an ominous sign for fiscal 2006, which begins on Saturday and ends September 30, 2006, the pool of recruits accepted by the Army for delayed entry into the service is way down from previous years.

In fiscal 2004, 45.9 percent of the Army's annual goal was met by recruits who were in the Army Delayed Entry Program, giving recruiters a big head start for the year, according to the Recruiting Command. In fiscal 2005, the figure fell to 18.4 percent. For 2006, the number is a scant 11 percent, meaning the Army has a comparatively small head start.

"We're expecting it to be a challenge to meet our recruiting mission and to reach out to those folks who are interested in serving," Bobick said of fiscal 2006.

Army leaders attribute recruiting difficulties to wariness among young Americans, as well as their parents and other influential adults, about service during wartime. They also said the economy now offers ample civilian job opportunities.

The Iraq war, in which more than 1,900 U.S. troops have been killed in 2-1/2 years of combat, represents the first test of the all-volunteer military in a protracted conflict. The Army provides the bulk of ground troops in the war.

"We have soldiers who are coming back from combat tours who are going out into communities and talking about their experiences to try to share what it is like to be a soldier and what it means to deploy, so people understand that first-hand instead of maybe what they see on the news," Bobick said.

The Army has also sweetened financial incentives for enlistment and added recruiters.

And the Pentagon this summer asked Congress to raise the maximum age for enlistment in the military to 42 in order to increase the pool of potential recruits. The ceiling now is 35 for active-duty service and 39 for enlisting in the reserves or National Guard with no prior military service.

Some defense analysts have argued that the United States may have to consider resuming the draft, abolished in 1973 during the tumult of the Vietnam War era, if the military is unable to attract sufficient numbers of recruits.

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