COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: Recruiting in Rural Areas
Army Recruiters Thrive Downstate
E.A. Torriero, Chicago Tribune
November 28, 2005
WARRENSBURG,
Ill -- This is U.S. Army country, where even in the leanest of
recruiting years, even in a time of war, young people step out of farms
and tiny towns of rural America to enlist.
Nationally, rising anti-war sentiment and news of mounting
casualties in Iraq led this year to the most dismal Army recruiting
season since 1979.
But in the expanses of the Midwest, the downturn has been much less than in other places.
In dozens of sparsely populated Illinois counties--places with
some of the state's highest poverty rates--an average of nearly one in
10 young people joins the military.
That's more than twice the rate nationwide and makes Downstate
Illinois one of the prime recruiting grounds in the country.
A sense of duty and muted criticism of the war keep recruiting
alive in the Midwest. But more than patriotism is at work. Tough times
in the heartland make the military an appealing alternative.
"The Army offered a better future than what I could find by
staying back home," said Pfc. Tyler Platt, 19, who signed up last
summer in this central-Illinois town and is studying information
technology in the Army.
Downstate Illinois reflects a national trend: Nearly one of every
two recruits comes from outside large metropolitan areas, according to
a recent breakdown of recruiting statistics by ZIP codes. And almost
half of all recruits come from poor and lower-income families, the
Pentagon statistics show.
"Rural America is ripe territory for military recruitment," said
Anita Danes, research director for a non-partisan Massachusetts
organization, the National Priorities Project, which calculated 2004
Pentagon recruiting data by postal zones.
They are places, as military recruiters put it, without the negative influences they encounter elsewhere in the country.
The non-urban Midwest has hardly a hint of the vociferous
campaigns going on in the Northeastern and Western states to rid
schools of military recruiters.
"
All Army battalions missed their recruiting goals in the fiscal
year that ended in September. Aiming for 80,000 recruits nationally,
the Army signed up 73,373, the first time since 1999 that it failed to
achieve its target.
The St. Louis region rated third in the nation for Army
recruiting, with 2,279, or 73 percent of its goal, behind San Antonio
with 86 percent and Oklahoma City with 78 percent.
"Economic opportunities are limited, and patriotism is high in
the Midwest," said Charles Moskos, a Northwestern University
sociologist specializing in military affairs. "That combination makes
the military awfully attractive to young folks."
The Army is in the midst of a blitzkrieg advertising campaign
nationwide. Recruiters in Illinois say increased benefits, such as a
$400-a-month pay boost for those willing to serve in combat divisions,
are luring more recruits.
Slow economy a factor
In a recent week in the Springfield recruiting center, applicants
included a young bank teller seeking a better life, a struggling
college student and a recent high school graduate looking for adventure.
All mentioned the region's bleak prospects for prosperity as reasons for joining the Army, the recruiters said.
Angela Dunn, 26, an aide in a nursing facility, hardly fits the stereotypical face on an Army recruiting poster.
Raised in the small community of Carlinville, 65 miles south of
Springfield, Dunn said she lived aimlessly after graduating from high
school in 1996. She recently began investigating the military as a way
to get training as a certified nurse. After talking to recruiters this
fall, Dunn was sold on the Army, she said, and has even persuaded a few
of her friends to talk to recruiters.
"I see it as a great opportunity," she said.
And it doesn't scare her that Pentagon figures show that rural
America, places like where she grew up, has borne the brunt of the
2,000-plus U.S. casualties in Iraq.
Of those, 85 came from Illinois, many of them from rural parts of the state.
Military alumni honored
In Warrensburg a few miles west of Decatur, population 1,289,
military service has a storied tradition among residents. At
Warrensburg-Latham High School, photographs of some 20 enlisted
soldiers are proudly displayed in the halls next to the school's sports
trophies and academic accomplishments.
Students have been busy lately putting together 70 packages of goodies to send to alumni serving abroad.
Recruiters are welcome to set up tables to talk with students
about a future in the military. School administrators say they have
never encountered a parent or student protesting recruiters' presence.
"Why would anyone object?" asked Karen Mehrtens, who coordinates
student activities at the school. "Having a student from here serving
in the military is an honor."
Platt, a former high school football and track standout at
Warrensburg-Latham, is one of those whose pictures grace the school
hall.
After graduating from Warrensburg-Latham in 2003, Platt worked at
an electronics store in nearby Decatur while taking college business
courses.
But with an unemployment rate hovering locally at 6 percent, and
lower-paying service jobs replacing higher-paying manufacturing
positions, Platt figured he faced a bleak future in central Illinois.
Platt talked with former high school friends who had joined the
military. And when he walked into the Decatur Army recruiting office in
June, he met Staff Sgt. James Pearson.
One of the region's top recruiters, with more than 65 recruits in
the last 18 months, Pearson asked Platt questions he asks every
potential recruit: What is your goal and why aren't you achieving it?
Then Pearson met with Platt's "influencer," as he calls a
recruit's closest contact: his father, Jeff, who sells cars at one of
Decatur's biggest dealerships.
At first, Jeff Platt was hesitant. He has misgivings about the
war. His oldest son, Ryan, died eight years ago in a car accident when
he was 16. The prospect of losing a second son frightened him.
Persuaded by Pearson and by his son's motivations, Platt gave his
blessing.
On Aug. 4, the anniversary of his brother's death, Tyler Platt
entered basic training. He struggled at first and thought he had made a
mistake.
But nine weeks later, a soldier son greeted his father.
"I took a boy in baggy pants to basic and met a polite young man
coming out who presses his shirt and says, `Yes sir' and `No sir,'"
Jeff Platt said. "I was amazed at how good this has been for him."
Now Tyler Platt is a private first class studying information systems technology at Ft. Gordon in Augusta, Ga.
"I don't think it's a big deal to serve my country," said Tyler
Platt, who signed on for six years. "And I know I'd never have these
kind of opportunities in Decatur."
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etorriero@tribune.com
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