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Army gains recruiting ground all around

All three Army components exceeded their recruiting goals in December, the Defense Department announced Jan. 10.

The latest numbers mark a successful first quarter of fiscal 2008 for the Army and Army National Guard, while the Army Reserve gained some ground in December after missing its goals the first two months of the fiscal year.

Also on Jan. 10, Army Secretary Pete Geren and Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, director of the Army Guard, gave an update on Active First, one of the Army’s newest recruiting initiatives.

The program, launched Oct. 1, allows young men and women — who might want to give active duty a try without making a full commitment — to sign up for the National Guard and go on active duty for 30, 36 or 48 months before returning to their home station unit of assignment.

These new soldiers are recruited into the Guard, but after advanced individual training they are transferred into the active Army. After their initial term, they can re-enlist or return to their original Guard unit.

The Army projects about 30 percent of those soldiers will stay in the active Army.

So far, 532 soldiers have enlisted through Active First, said Col. Mike Jones, chief of recruiting and retention for the Army Guard. Sixty percent of those soldiers were brought into the Guard through its Recruiting Assistance Program, where soldiers earn up to $2,000 for each friend they bring into the service.

“The Guard has been so innovative in recruiting, and the lessons learned are being shared across the Army,” Geren said.

Geren has tasked the Guard with bringing in 1,600 soldiers through Active First, Vaughn said during a briefing at the Pentagon.

Vaughn said “1,600 will not be hard at all. Do we care if they stay in the active Army? No, because that’s great for the nation.”

If these soldiers return to the Guard, they will be well-trained and experienced, a definite bonus for the component, Vaughn said.

Pvt. Damien Jones, 19, of St. Louis, joined the Guard through Active First. He will ship to basic training Feb. 12 and eventually become a combat engineer. He plans to serve four years in the active Army and four in the Guard.

“Where I grew up, there was gang violence, [there] were drug dealers around, my dad was never around,” he said. “I knew there was nothing on the streets for me. I knew I had to do more with my life. Out there in the street is more dangerous than joining the Army, I think.”

In addition to joining the Guard, the young soldier also has recruited three friends through the Recruiting Assistance Program.

“I’m going to be the biggest recruiter this year,” he said.

Geren praised the Active First program during the briefing.

“This partnership is bearing great fruit for the Army,” he said. “There’s no job in our nation that makes more of a difference than being a soldier.”

The Army is on track to grow to 547,000 by 2010, a plan that was sped up by two years, Geren said.

“If trends continue, we might exceed it,” he said. “We’ve been in a tough recruiting market for a while, but what we’ve seen since 9/11, young men and women have been willing to step up … [and] I think that’s what sustains us.”

In December, the active Army reported 789 accessions, 105 percent of the goal of 750. The Army Guard brought in 4,985 soldiers, 120 percent of the goal of 4,157; and Recruiting Command brought 2,569 soldiers into the Reserve, 105 percent of the goal of 2,450.

Overall, including soldiers who transition to the Reserve from active duty, the Reserve had 3,280 accessions, 107 percent of the goal of 3,065.

“I’m confident we’ll reach our goals this year, and I’m sure it won’t be without a lot of hard work,” Geren said.