Army Misses Recruitment Goal for Second Straight Month

[The Reaper]

I believe that the conclusion in bold confirms some of our earlier discussions.

That plus the fact that people are catching onto the fact that when you join a small, professional Army in wartime, you are going to be deployed a lot.

Tough time to be trying to gain end strength, especially with a proposed 3.0-3.5% pay raise.

TR

Army Misses Recruitment Goal for Second Straight Month
Monday , July 09, 2007

The Army failed to meet its recruiting goal in June, raising concern that the unpopular Iraq war and strong economy could wreak even more havoc on enlistments.

Army officials acknowledged Monday that the service missed its recruiting target for the second month in a row, but would not provide exact numbers. But two defense officials said the Army fell short of its 8,400 goal by about 15 percent — which is more than twice the June shortfall and would mean that roughly 7,000 recruits signed up.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the recruiting numbers are not scheduled for release until Tuesday.

Last month the Army said it recruited 5,101 new soldiers in May, about 7 percent short of its 5,500 goal for that month.

Army spokesman Col. Dan Baggio said the Army is still on track to meet its annual goal of 80,000 recruits for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, since it exceeded targets earlier in the year.

But, he added, "This is not necessarily a rosy picture. We're not taking this lightly."

The slip in May was the first time in about two years that the Army did not meet recruiting goals. It came as the Pentagon is struggling to increase the overall size of the Army and Marine Corps, as part of an effort to provide the warfighting capability needed.

The military is fighting two wars — in Iraq and Afghanistan — and fielding the combat units needed for the conflicts has put massive strains on an already stretched Army.

In addition to the increasing unhappiness with the war, Baggio said that recruiting has been hampered by the fact that seven in 10 potential recruits do not meet Army standards. They are largely failing to meet weight and education requirements.

Also, Curt Gilroy, the Pentagon's director of accession policy, said in a recent AP interview that the global war on terror is causing many parents and other adults who influence young people to steer them away from military service. At the same time, Gilroy said, the U.S. economy has been strong, providing other more lucrative job prospects.

[nmap]

From the article:

Baggio said that recruiting has been hampered by the fact that seven in 10 potential recruits do not meet Army standards. They are largely failing to meet weight and education requirements.

Functional illiteracy rates: LINK

February 26, 1997

AUSTIN, Tx. -- State Senator Rodney Ellis (D-Houston)
Ellis pointed to several distressing facts about illiteracy in Texas and across the nation:

• More than 44 million American adults are barely able to read.*
• In Texas, more than 6 million adults -- half of the adult population -- are functionally illiterate.
• An estimated 2.2 million American adults are added to the illiterate population each year.

The trend has been developing, as suggested by the quote above, for well over a decade. My observations suggest that matters are steadily getting worse at every level; there appears to be little on the horizon to reverse the trends.

The implications for future educational levels, both in terms of highly qualified recruits for the armed services and in terms of competition in the global economy, are not pretty.

[Roguish Lawyer]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Baggio said that recruiting has been hampered by the fact that seven in 10 potential recruits do not meet Army standards. They are largely failing to meet weight . . . requirements.

So I can't join the Army to become a "lean, mean fightin' machine?"

[Pete]

Daughter # 2's boyfriend is in his third week of basic out at Ft Lost in the Woods and in his only call he said he's lovin' it. Good food, exercise, etc, etc.

Hmm.

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by Roguish Lawyer

So I can't join the Army to become a "lean, mean fightin' machine?"

I don't know.

You have the education, how old are you and what do you weigh now?

Can I have your referral bonus?

Originally Posted by Pete

Daughter # 2's boyfriend is in his third week of basic out at Ft Lost in the Woods and in his only call he said he's lovin' it. Good food, exercise, etc, etc.

Hmm.

Good for him, sounds like a sharp kid.

TR

[82ndtrooper]

Originally Posted by nmap

From the article:

Baggio said that recruiting has been hampered by the fact that seven in 10 potential recruits do not meet Army standards. They are largely failing to meet weight and education requirements.

Functional illiteracy rates: LINK

February 26, 1997

AUSTIN, Tx. -- State Senator Rodney Ellis (D-Houston)
Ellis pointed to several distressing facts about illiteracy in Texas and across the nation:

• More than 44 million American adults are barely able to read.*
• In Texas, more than 6 million adults -- half of the adult population -- are functionally illiterate.
• An estimated 2.2 million American adults are added to the illiterate population each year.

The trend has been developing, as suggested by the quote above, for well over a decade. My observations suggest that matters are steadily getting worse at every level; there appears to be little on the horizon to reverse the trends.

The implications for future educational levels, both in terms of highly qualified recruits for the armed services and in terms of competition in the global economy, are not pretty.

44,000,000 illiterate ? Add 12,000,000 illegals to that number and counting.

Maybe part of the Illegal immigration bill, if a new one is proposed, is that every able bodied male of the age and language requirment be required to serve at least a 2 year gig. They can write a "wish list" of what service they'd like to serve with, however the needs of the Army and Marine Corps will over ride any "wish list" until all needed peronell are assigned and trained.

[incommin]

And of course the fix for the illiterate rate is to give teachers more $$$$$.

Jim

[Kyobanim]

Originally Posted by incommin

And of course the fix for the illiterate rate is to give teachers more $$$$$.

Jim

If you want more teachers you have to pay them. If you want better teachers you'll have to pay them more. If not, they'll just go into the business world.

[RTK]

Originally Posted by 82ndtrooper

44,000,000 illiterate ? Add 12,000,000 illegals to that number and counting.

Yea, but 4 million of them can at least read and write Spanish.

Here in Kentucky kids learn to read by checking out the sponsors on their favorite NASCAR driver's uniform.

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by Kyobanim

If you want more teachers you have to pay them. If you want better teachers you'll have to pay them more. If not, they'll just go into the business world.

I don't think pay is the problem, I see a lot of teachers who are essentially unqualified to be theaching the subjects they are and are only there because of the union.

Most of the good teachers I know would value a little more parental involvement and personal responsibility over a pay raise.

Throwing money at the problem has shown little improvement. We already spend at or near the most of any other industrialized nation, and have little to show for it.

One of the school districts in this nation with the highest salaries, most expenditures per student, and lowest standardized test scores is Washington DC. Why is that?

TR

[uboat509]

I don't think that that is across the board. I know that when I was stationed at Fort Polk in Louisiana the teachers in the off post schools were not required to hold teaching degrees and most of the local who did earn teaching degrees promptly moved to another state that paid better. My children were too young to attend school there but I had plenty of friends who had children in the local district. I never heard any of them say anything good about those schools and the common thread among all of them was that Louisiana simply did not pay enough to attract or keep good teachers in that district. Good teachers can't take the place of good parents but bad teachers certainly don't help.

SFC W

[Roycroft201]

If you want more teachers you have to pay them. If you want better teachers you'll have to pay them more. If not, they'll just go into the business world.

Agree with Kyo on this one and it especially holds true for those teachers who have Masters degrees.

[Ranger Luna]

I thought everyone in the Army was stupid and unedumacated anyway?!?!?!

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by Ranger Luna

I thought everyone in the Army was stupid and unedumacated anyway?!?!?!

Been listening to those Kerry campaign ads again, haven't you?

TR

[hoot72]

please delete this master Sgt..made an error here...