The KSB
4-4-11/11-5-11
Both the Army and the Marines are falling well short of their recruiting needs. People are simply not joining. My question is, what is stopping you? We are at war and your nation needs you. Please don't take this as a recruitment pitch. I'm not trying to convince anyone to join. I really would like to know what your reasoning is for joining or not. Is it your career, age, lack of conviction, fear, etc. I guess what I'd like to hear is an honest explination of why you would or would not consider military service in this time of need.
Army's recruiting problems 'like having a persistent drought'
June 9, 2005
BY ROBERT BURNS
WASHINGTON -- The Army appears likely to fall short of its full-year recruiting goal for the first time since 1999, raising longer-term questions about a military embroiled in its first protracted wars since switching from the draft to a volunteer force 32 years ago.
Many young people and their parents have grown more wary of Army service because of the likelihood of being dispatched on combat tours to Iraq or Afghanistan, polls show. U.S. troops are dying at a rate of two a day in Iraq, more than two years after President Bush declared major combat operations had ended.
Officials said Wednesday that although the Army will not release its numbers until Friday, it fell about 25 percent short of its target of signing up 6,700 recruits in May. The gap would have been even wider but for the fact that the target was lowered by 1,350.
The Army said it lowered the May target to "adjust for changing market conditions," knowing that the difference will have to be made up in the months ahead.
The Army also missed its monthly targets in April, March and February -- each month worse than the one before.
"It's like having a persistent drought," said Daniel Goure, a military analyst at the private Lexington Institute. "At some point when you have drought conditions you have to institute water rationing, and that's what you potentially face in the military if it goes on long enough."
The Army National Guard and Army Reserve are even farther behind in recruiting this year.
AP
Army's recruiting problems 'like having a persistent drought'
June 9, 2005
BY ROBERT BURNS
WASHINGTON -- The Army appears likely to fall short of its full-year recruiting goal for the first time since 1999, raising longer-term questions about a military embroiled in its first protracted wars since switching from the draft to a volunteer force 32 years ago.
Many young people and their parents have grown more wary of Army service because of the likelihood of being dispatched on combat tours to Iraq or Afghanistan, polls show. U.S. troops are dying at a rate of two a day in Iraq, more than two years after President Bush declared major combat operations had ended.
Officials said Wednesday that although the Army will not release its numbers until Friday, it fell about 25 percent short of its target of signing up 6,700 recruits in May. The gap would have been even wider but for the fact that the target was lowered by 1,350.
The Army said it lowered the May target to "adjust for changing market conditions," knowing that the difference will have to be made up in the months ahead.
The Army also missed its monthly targets in April, March and February -- each month worse than the one before.
"It's like having a persistent drought," said Daniel Goure, a military analyst at the private Lexington Institute. "At some point when you have drought conditions you have to institute water rationing, and that's what you potentially face in the military if it goes on long enough."
The Army National Guard and Army Reserve are even farther behind in recruiting this year.
AP
