MILITARY: The Army has made its recruitment numbers

Posted by Jim Stroud

September 9, 2006

announced Friday that the Army met its recruiting goal for August, which a senior Army official said makes it virtually certain that the service will achieve its aim of signing up 80,000 new soldiers for the full recruiting year, which ends Sept. 30. Last year the Army fell short for the first time since 1999.

“We’re reaching out a lot better,” said the official, Maj. Gen. Sean Byrne, director of military personnel management. The Army is making better use of the Internet, for example, to reach more young people, he said.

The Army also has put about one-third more recruiters on the street, and Congress approved new financial incentives for enlistees, including signing bonuses for some slots of as much as $40,000. The Army also began allowing people as old as 42 to enter the service; the maximum age previously was 35.

Through August, the active-duty Army had signed up 72,997 new soldiers, nearly 3,000 above its year-to-date target. The Army National Guard was about 200 below its target of 63,240, while the Army Reserve, which had a particularly weak performance in August, was almost 2,000 below its year-to-date target of 33,124.

For August alone, the active Army topped the 10,000 mark for the second month in a row. It was the 15th consecutive month the active Army has met or exceeded its monthly goal. It missed four months in a row in early 2005, and some questioned whether the Army had developed a chronic and debilitating problem.

The Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy all achieved their August goals and are on target to meet their full-year targets, the Pentagon said.

Summer is typically the strongest recruiting season.

READ: Army touts recruiting turnaround

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