Army Ends Best Recruit Year Since 1997
Army Ends Best Recruit Year Since 1997
WASHINGTON -- The Army is ending its best recruiting year since 1997 and expecting similar success in 2007, despite the weight of grim war news from Iraq, Army Secretary Francis Harvey said Thursday.
In an Associated Press interview, Harvey said the Army will enlist its 80,000th soldier on Friday, reaching its goal for the year with eight days to spare. That is a considerable turnaround from last year when the Army missed its target for the first time since 1999 and by the widest margin in more than two decades.
At the start of this recruiting year, which began Oct. 1, 2005, many questioned whether the Army would reach 80,000, given the many alternative career options available to young people and the growing unpopularity of the Iraq war. But a package of new financial incentives, new recruiting approaches and a bigger recruiting corps did the trick.
Army recruiters are making more use of the Internet to attract young prospects, and the Army this year began allowing people as old as 42 to enter the service; the maximum age previously was 35.
Harvey said the Army would stick with the formula it used over the past 12 months, while adding a few new wrinkles for recruiters.
He described himself as "moderately optimistic" about reaching the 80,000 goal again next year. It is too early to know the final number for the current recruiting year, which ends Sept. 30, but Harvey said it would be the highest in nine years. Last year the Army fell short of its goal by the widest margin since 1979.
Harvey was flying to New York to personally enlist on Friday the 80,000th recruit - Shirley Salvi, 23, a Rutgers University graduate who will report to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., to become an Army linguist or intelligence analyst.
The trend in recruiting is particularly important for the Army now because it is striving to expand its overall ranks. The expansion is fundamental to an Army plan that increases the number of combat brigades available for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, thereby giving soldiers more breathing room between overseas tours.
The Army secretary said combat brigades now get, on average, only 14 months at home for every 12 months at war. The goal is 24 months at home for every 12 months at war, but Harvey said they currently are moving in the wrong direction. Not long ago, combat brigades were getting 18 months between war tours.
By the end of the budget year on Sept. 30, the active-duty Army expects to have a total of nearly 504,000 soldiers, up from 492,000 a year ago. A year from now it hopes to reach its goal of 512,000, but that will not happen if recruiting slips again. Harvey indicated he expects recruiting to remain strong in the coming year.
"We're sticking with all the improvements we made" over the past year, including a beefed up recruiting corps, Harvey said. "If we start seeing trends that we don't like, we may" add even more recruiters, he said.
There are now about 6,600 recruiters for the active-duty Army, up from 6,401 a year ago and 5,119 two years ago. The Army National Guard and Army Reserve also have greatly increased their recruiting corps.
The outlook for 2007 is brightened a bit by the fact that the Army expects to begin the new recruiting year with about 14 percent of the target number of 80,000 already signed up. Many who signed up this month, for example, did so with the understanding they will not begin basic training for several weeks or months. The Army began the 2006 recruiting year with about 12 percent of the year's total already signed up.
Read Story Here
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All these brave men and woman said "Send Me", without Coercion, or a Draft. But all the Liberals ever say is "You go enlist then", I guess plenty of people DID JUST THAT! God Bless Our Troops!!
WASHINGTON -- The Army is ending its best recruiting year since 1997 and expecting similar success in 2007, despite the weight of grim war news from Iraq, Army Secretary Francis Harvey said Thursday.
In an Associated Press interview, Harvey said the Army will enlist its 80,000th soldier on Friday, reaching its goal for the year with eight days to spare. That is a considerable turnaround from last year when the Army missed its target for the first time since 1999 and by the widest margin in more than two decades.
At the start of this recruiting year, which began Oct. 1, 2005, many questioned whether the Army would reach 80,000, given the many alternative career options available to young people and the growing unpopularity of the Iraq war. But a package of new financial incentives, new recruiting approaches and a bigger recruiting corps did the trick.
Army recruiters are making more use of the Internet to attract young prospects, and the Army this year began allowing people as old as 42 to enter the service; the maximum age previously was 35.
Harvey said the Army would stick with the formula it used over the past 12 months, while adding a few new wrinkles for recruiters.
He described himself as "moderately optimistic" about reaching the 80,000 goal again next year. It is too early to know the final number for the current recruiting year, which ends Sept. 30, but Harvey said it would be the highest in nine years. Last year the Army fell short of its goal by the widest margin since 1979.
Harvey was flying to New York to personally enlist on Friday the 80,000th recruit - Shirley Salvi, 23, a Rutgers University graduate who will report to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., to become an Army linguist or intelligence analyst.
The trend in recruiting is particularly important for the Army now because it is striving to expand its overall ranks. The expansion is fundamental to an Army plan that increases the number of combat brigades available for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, thereby giving soldiers more breathing room between overseas tours.
The Army secretary said combat brigades now get, on average, only 14 months at home for every 12 months at war. The goal is 24 months at home for every 12 months at war, but Harvey said they currently are moving in the wrong direction. Not long ago, combat brigades were getting 18 months between war tours.
By the end of the budget year on Sept. 30, the active-duty Army expects to have a total of nearly 504,000 soldiers, up from 492,000 a year ago. A year from now it hopes to reach its goal of 512,000, but that will not happen if recruiting slips again. Harvey indicated he expects recruiting to remain strong in the coming year.
"We're sticking with all the improvements we made" over the past year, including a beefed up recruiting corps, Harvey said. "If we start seeing trends that we don't like, we may" add even more recruiters, he said.
There are now about 6,600 recruiters for the active-duty Army, up from 6,401 a year ago and 5,119 two years ago. The Army National Guard and Army Reserve also have greatly increased their recruiting corps.
The outlook for 2007 is brightened a bit by the fact that the Army expects to begin the new recruiting year with about 14 percent of the target number of 80,000 already signed up. Many who signed up this month, for example, did so with the understanding they will not begin basic training for several weeks or months. The Army began the 2006 recruiting year with about 12 percent of the year's total already signed up.
Read Story Here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All these brave men and woman said "Send Me", without Coercion, or a Draft. But all the Liberals ever say is "You go enlist then", I guess plenty of people DID JUST THAT! God Bless Our Troops!!
posted by Marie's Two Cents | 11:01 PM
7 Comments:
Hehe...this will raise the bp of libs worldwide.
Skye,
Hehe...this will raise the bp of libs worldwide.
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Isnt election season fun? I just LOVE to show the Liberals where they have gone wrong and why we cant afford to have them in any position of power.
This came as a surprise myself, but I do respect all that did enlist.
On the other hand I am not sure what the military would have recommeneded if they did not meet the quota for the year. Just speculation.
Penn,
This came as a surprise myself, but I do respect all that did enlist.
On the other hand I am not sure what the military would have recommeneded if they did not meet the quota for the year. Just speculation.
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I'm not sure, they have increased thier sign on bonuses, and alot of men and woman wanted to enlist that were over 35 which was the maximum age, and so they uped the age to 42 because they were overwhelmed with men and woman that wanted to serve but were to old. They offered alot of incentives, but the main thing is, these people said "Send Me".
So I wish the Liberals would quit bitching about the troops and the war on terror. Obviously they want to put an end to this crap, and they know someone has to do it.
What a brave bunch of Americans we have. God bless our Military!
Marie, the liberals want a draft because they don't believe that anyone should be willing to fight for this country without the threat of going to jail hanging over their heads if they stay home.
Besides, from a liberal perspective, anybody worth having in the country would be able to get a deferment.
Uncle P,
Marie, the liberals want a draft because they don't believe that anyone should be willing to fight for this country without the threat of going to jail hanging over their heads if they stay home.
Besides, from a liberal perspective, anybody worth having in the country would be able to get a deferment.
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Well then I hope this drives the Liberals batty!
I would oppose a draft myself, because I am a firm believer in an all-volunteer military. Even if a draft would begin it would mean political suicide for any politician that signed it. (Hopefully Rangel will go this year if his term is up, not sure on that)With a draft I would probably get an instant deferrment, because I cannot enlist into the Armed Forces.
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