Do you Liberals still believe that the Military is still having trouble Recruiting?

Question

Look at the following link.
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/a/recruitgoals.htm
the lowes recuiting numbers for last year for the Army was 90% of goal. Still pretty good. Airforce was 102% of goals. Last month the Army enlisted 8756 new recruits

sorry Jim T. Army wrong again

The Army added 73,373 recruits last year goal was 80,000

Answer 1

They really aren't having that much of a problem. As far as deaths go, does anyone even know how many Americans died as a result of WWII? It's sad when any American dies, but today's soldier is much better protected and armed than any from even the last golf war, so the survival rate is quite a bit higher than that of other wars.

Answer 2

Your assumptions are incorrect. Apparently you are just trying to make a statement rather than asking a question. Are you actually interested in the truth?

The recruiting problems first became apparent in the late summer of 2003, when the surplus of enlistees disappeared and the Army went into the next fiscal year without any cushion. Since then, recruiting numbers have been declining. An alarming trend -- fewer young people signing up than the Army needs to maintain its strength -- began to develop Fall 2004.

So, the Army responded:

The Army added 1,200 recruiters May 2005, and significantly increased its advertising budget and enlistment bonuses, from $6,000 for most recruits to $20,000. At the same time, it raised the eligible age for the Army National Guard or the Reserve from 35 to 39. Even more telling, the Army also began accepting more recruits who were not high school graduates. In 2005, the percentage of high school graduates among those enlisting dropped from 92.4 to barely 90 percent, the Army's stated floor for the number of recruits who must have a high school diploma.

Still, this wasn't enough so the Army came up with the new 15-month enlistment policy instead of the typical 4 year enlistment. The Army has not resorted to this since it had two year tours in Vietnam.

This has enabled the Army to almost keep up with recruitment but has also had a negative effect on the Army Guard and Reserve. Recruitment in the Army Guard & Rsv is also important as the number of Guard and Reserve deployed over seas has increased. The Guard and Reserve now provide more than 40 percent of the Army forces in Iraq.

The Army National Guard missed its annual recruiting goals for fiscal years 2003 and 2004. In 2004 the Army Guard missed its goal by 5,000 recruits.

For Fiscal year 2006 which ended in October 2005 we have:

Army - 92% , shortage 6,700
Army NG - 80%, shortage 12,800
Army Rsv - 84%, shortage 4, 600
Navy Rsv - 88%, shortage 1,300
Air NG - 86%, shortage 1,400

You see that in reality you are down about 24,000 total Army troops.

Answer 3

Yes I'm sorry but I do. The boys and men fighting in Iraq are, on the whole recruits and National Guard persons who have passed the basic requirements . And the army always inflates it's numbers. They are at this point accepting people they would not have under other circumstances. That is a sad thing. Because if these recruits are not up to par than they will either not be prepared for what they need to face. Or they will commit rape like the unfit young man Green who was discharged for mental unfitness,I believe, Meeting numbers and having a good army are two different things.

Answer 4

90% of goal means they didn't meet their goal.

the air force meets their goal because they don't have any body bags in iraq.

Army Recruiting High School Dropouts without GED
By James Joyner
The Army is now allowing its recruiters to sign up high school dropouts who do not have a GED for the first time in years.

GEDs no longer required (Army Times)

Army recruiters now have a wider pool to find future soldiers in. The Army is reaching out to a slice of Americaâ€â„¢s youth long ineligible to serve: non-high school graduates who donâ€â„¢t have a General Equivalency Diploma.

When I saw the headline and read that introduction, my heart sank. Thankfully, I kept reading:

Recruiters can now go after that demographic through the â€Å“Army Educations Plus” option, the Army announced Tuesday. If an individual has been out of high school for at least six months, can pass a physical exam and the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, he or she may be eligible for help getting a GED.

The program allows recruiters to enlist a high school dropout, according to S. Douglas Smith, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command. But the enlistee must have the GED before shipping off to basic training. The Army will pay for individuals to attend a course to prepare for the GED test and will cover the cost of taking the GED exam. Before attending the GED course on the Armyâ€â„¢s tab, the person must enlist into the Armyâ€â„¢s delayed entry program, Smith said.

The regular Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard are each offering this option, as of Tuesday.

Answer 5

In 2005, the US Army was below goal by 6,600 troops - the largest shortfall in 26 years.

Would you like to know how they reached the goal?

1 - Raised enlistment age from 35 - 42
2 - Doubled the number of acceptances from the lowest third of scorers on their aptitude test
3 - They've also eliminated restrictions on undesirables (neo-Nazi affiliation no longer disqualifies you from serving).
4 - They've also had to nearly double incentive pay to get people to sign up.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing that they're making goals, I'm just saying that they need to be honest about such things when reporting their numbers.

Answer 6

nice try ethan, why is it that conservatives always point out the portion of an article that they are trying to promote, yet leave out the part of the article that they want to hide. Sure, the military has had an easier time meeting their recruiting goals, however, they had to lower the standards to do it. A good portion of the recruits today would never have made it in when I was serving.

Answer 7

No, but we intelligent people know they are.

It's funny, the military has lowered it's intelligence bar for new recruits to try and make their goals....I wonder if that's why some members of the military seem to be shooting up completely innocent civilians over there. Just a thought.

Answer 8

you are right... but they are also paying much more to get them through very expensive bonuses... I know people with prior service who have gotten $20,000 and more just for enlisting... like a signing bonus... they are throwing alot of money around to keep recruiting up...

Answer 9

yes. the rich republicans will always use the poor kids and middle class kids to fight the war. the question you should have asked was what percantage were from rich families?