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Recruiting back on track after successful July

After missing its recruiting goals for two straight months, the active Army rebounded in July by bringing in 9,972 soldiers, 102 percent of the monthly goal of 9,750, the Army announced Aug. 10.

The active Army has also achieved 102 percent of its year-to-date mission, with 61,863, or 102 percent, of the goal of 60,900. The annual goal for this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, is 80,000 new soldiers. That means the Army has two months to recruit 18,137 soldiers, the number of people needed to reach the annual goal.

The Army National Guard and Army Reserve also exceeded their recruiting goals in July.

The Reserve reported recruiting 3,822 soldiers, 118 percent of the monthly goal of 3,250. So far this year, the Reserve has recruited 21,496 soldiers, 99 percent of its year-to-date goal of 21,675. The target for the year is 26,500, 1,000 more than last year.

In July, 4,908 soldiers joined the Army Guard, 100 percent of its mission of 4,900. The Guard is at 100 percent of its year-to-date goal, with 55,264 soldiers. The goal is 55,239. The fiscal 2007 mission for the Guard is 70,000.

The monthly recruiting figures, contrary to common perception, are not a tally of new sign-ups, but the number of enlistees who were shipped to basic training. That number, however, is tied to new enlistments.

Army recruiting has come under scrutiny recently as the service is stretched by repeated and lengthy combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, while at the same time leaders want to grow the component by about 40,000 soldiers for an end strength of 547,000 in the next two to four years.

The tough recruiting environment has led the Army to try a variety of remedies leaders hope will carry them at least through to the end of the fiscal year.

“We are balancing two things: [bringing] the Army to the size that it needs to be and also to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars,” Maj. Gen. Thomas Bostick, commanding general of Recruiting Command, testified Aug. 1 on Capitol Hill.

Bostick later added that “this is not just a mission from the Army and a challenge for the Army, but this is a challenge for the nation.”

In late July, the Army ordered 1,106 former recruiters back to that duty. Their temporary return to recruiting is slated to last no later than Oct. 15.

The Army also began offering a variety of seasonal bonuses, including up to $20,000 to qualified soldiers who depart for active duty by Sept. 30. And as part of its more aggressive bonus program to attract new soldiers, the Army is offering up to $45,000 tax-free for soldiers to accrue throughout their career to help buy a home or build a business. In recent years the Army it also raised the maximum enlistment age to 42, loosened weight and tattoo rules and relied more heavily on its delayed entry pool.

The DEP, which has since been renamed the Future Soldier Training Program, consists of recruits who have enlisted but have not shipped to basic training. These soldiers have up to a year to ship to basic, and they are not counted in the monthly recruiting totals until they do.

A healthy pool of promised recruits eases pressure on recruiters and enables officials to better manage recruiting throughout the year.

The Army entered fiscal 2007 with 15 percent of its mission in the DEP, compared with 46 percent as recently as 2004. However, a shallow DEP does not mean the Army will fall short of not meet its annual goal at the end of the year. The Army started 2006 with 12 percent of its mission in the DEP, and at the end of the year the Army had exceeded its recruiting goal.

The other components, the Army National Guard and Army Reserve, also exceeded their recruiting goals in July.

The Army Reserve reported recruiting 3,822 soldiers, 118 percent of the monthly goal of 3,250. So far this year the Reserve has recruited 21,496 soldiers, 99 percent of its year-to-date goal of 21,675. The target for the year is 26,500, 1,000 more than last year.

In July, 4,908 soldiers joined the Army Guard, 100 percent of its mission of 4,900. The Guard is at 100 percent of its year-to-date goal, with 55,264 soldiers. The goal is 55,239. The fiscal 2007 mission for the Guard is 70,000.