COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: Personnel Crunch
I Want You … Badly
Phillip Carter and Brad Flora, Slate
November 7, 2007
Last month, Pentagon officials proudly trumpeted their recruiting andretention results, announcing they had met or exceeded the past
year's goals for every branch of the service except the Army and Air
National Guard. According to Undersecretary of Defense David Chu, the
results show the continuing viability of the "all-volunteer"
military, even as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars grind on. Top
Pentagon officials say these numbers also refute arguments that Iraq
is breaking the force, or that we need a return to the draft.
However, critics charge that the huge and varied incentives being
offered to recruits show the desperation of the all-volunteer force
and its inability to cope with the sustained demands of the Iraq war.
Others point out that these recruitment programs focus too much on
quantity, rather than quality, leading to a lower-caliber military.
Slate's comprehensive list of Army recruiting and retention programs
illustrates how the service is stretching to make manpower ends meet.
-Inducement
-Target
-Description
Quick-ship bonuses
Recruits who ship out within 30 days
To push new troops out to the field faster, the Army started
offering $20,000 bonuses this summer to new soldiers who would ship
out for basic training within 30 days. In some cases, this resulted
in troops transitioning from their living rooms to the battlefield in
less than four months. Of the 4,149 recruits who signed contracts
between July 25 and Aug. 13, 92 percent took the bonus. The program
was revamped Sept. 30 to provide recruits with bonuses of $6,000,
$15,000, or $20,000 depending on their chosen operational specialty.
Enlistment bonuses
All recruits
In 2006, the Pentagon spent more than $1 billion on enlistment
bonuses. In November 1999, new recruits could enlist and receive up
to $20,000 for joining. Today, they can join for a total signing
bonus of up to $40,000 for a four-year hitch. Recruits with certain
skills, such as fluency in Arabic, can earn an additional $5,000 for
joining the Army. Those holding bachelor's degrees can get $8,000 for
signing a two-year enlistment contract. Recruits opting for the Army
Reserve can also earn large bonuses up to $20,000 for a six-year
enlistment plus at least two years in the inactive reserves.
Deferred-enlistment bonus
High-school seniors who enlist
Aimed at snagging high-school seniors early, encouraging them to
finish school and then head on to boot camp, this new program pays
$1,000 to students for each month they spend in the Army's Future
Soldier Training Program. High-schoolers receive an additional $1,000
when they graduate. This bonus can be combined with other enlistment
bonuses. So, if a senior enlists for a specialty with a $20,000
bonus, spends seven months in the Future Soldier Training Program,
and graduates, his total bonus would be $28,000.
Fifteen month + training enlistment bonus
Recruits who answer the Army's "National Call to Service"
In response to market demand from young people for shorter tours of
duty, the Army began offering two-year enlistments that allow a
recruit to sign up, deploy to Iraq, and get out of the service. This
means recruits go to boot camp, then individual training, then to
their units for 15 months. New soldiers taking this path are eligible
for the GI Bill and can choose between a $5,000 cash payment or up to
$18,000 in student-loan repayment, but are not eligible for the other
signing bonuses.
Money for college
All recruits
All service members can sign up for the active-duty Montgomery GI
Bill program, which pays up to $38,700 for college or vocational
training, usually after the soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine gets
discharged.
Student-loan repayment
College grads who enlist for at least three years or go to officer training
Recruits who join with existing student loans can earn up to
$65,000 in loan repayment in exchange for three years of service.
Soldiers who join the Army for six years in certain specialties can
earn $72,900 in combined educational benefits from the GI Bill and
Army College Fund.
401(k) matching funds/"Thrift Savings Plan"
Five-year recruits in critical specialties
Like many employers, the federal government offers a retirement
savings account, called the "Thrift Savings Plan," which employees
can contribute tax-free earnings and sometimes have them matched by
the government. The Army offers an enlistment option that allows
recruits who sign up for five years or more to contribute up to
$15,000 a year, with the Army matching up to 5 percent of the funds
contributed.
Less-stringent education standards
Recruits without a high-school diploma or equivalent
Relying on decades of social science research showing that smarter
soldiers do better in combat, the Pentagon long insisted that 90
percent of its new recruits enter with a high-school diploma, and
that they score well on the military's aptitude tests. Since 2004,
the Army has waived these rules for an increasing number of recruits.
Among 2004 recruits, 92.5 percent had a high-school diploma, while
the same could be said for 87 percent in 2005, 81.2 percent in 2006,
and 79.1 percent in 2007.
Moral waivers
Recruits with previous drug or criminal convictions
According to a January 2007 Army briefing, two-thirds of young men
and women are ineligible to enlist because of medical problems, poor
education, past drug use, or criminal convictions. (To read this
briefing in PowerPoint format, click here.) To make ends meet, the
Pentagon has raised the number of "moral waivers" the services can
grant for new recruits with past convictions or drug use. In 2003,
the Army handed out 4,644 waivers for past criminal convictions and
1,028 exemptions for drug and alcohol offenses. By 2007 those same
numbers jumped to 12,057 and 1,492. In the case of Army Pvt. Steven
Green, this policy went disastrously wrong. Green entered the Army as
a high-school dropout with a GED, as well as with past convictions
for alcohol and drug-related crimes. He now stands accused of a
grisly rape and murder near Mahmudiyah, Iraq.
Less-stringent age standards
Recruits aged 35-42
To enlarge the pool of eligible recruits, the Army raised the
maximum age for enlistment from 35 to 40 in January 2006, and then
from 40 to 42 in June 2006, both times with Congress' explicit authorization.
Retention bonuses
Special ops. officers and enlisted Army captains who sign on for
three more years
With private security contractors ready to pay $200,000 a year for
top-quality special operations troops, the Pentagon has had to pay
top dollar to keep highly skilled officers and enlisted personnel in
a number of fields. The Army is offering retention bonuses of up to
$150,000 to its most skilled special forces troops. Army captains
signing up for another three years can get $20,000 to $35,000, a free
ticket to graduate school, military schooling (Ranger School or
language training), a branch or functional area transfer, or "post of
choice," depending on their specialty. Since the program was rolled
out Sept. 13, more than 7,500 active-duty captains have signed on.
Stop-loss
Selected active and reserve personnel scheduled to be discharged
"Stop-loss" and "stop-move" are programs the Army uses to freeze
certain personnel in their current assignments, or prevent them from
being discharged. These programs are frequently employed to maintain
the strength and cohesion of a unit preparing to deploy to Iraq or
Afghanistan. Senior Army leaders say approximately 9,000 soldiers are
being kept in the service beyond the end of their enlistment contract
under stop-loss, and an unknown number have been frozen in their
current assignments under stop-move. Members of Congress have
expressed concern that these policies contradict the spirit of the
all-volunteer force, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates and others
indicate they will likely continue.
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