COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: Recruiting in Rural Areas
Army officials: Recruiting in Midwest a success
Associated Press
July 13, 2005
WATERLOO,
Iowa — Army officials in the Midwest say they’re finding
more people who want to sign up this year, even though the Army
continues to falls short of national recruiting goals.
Anticipating the personnel needs of the Army, recruiters are given a
yearly target for the number of recruits. For the Des Moines Battalion
— which covers, Iowa , Nebraska and parts of Wisconsin and
Illinois — the numbers shot up dramatically.
In 2004, the battalion was asked to provide 784 regular Army soldiers
and 402 reserves. In 2005, the number jumped to 1,296 regulars and 548
reservists. That’s a combined increase of 658 soldiers.
As of April 1, the halfway point of the Army’s fiscal year, the
battalion had enlisted 629 recruits into the regular Army, compared to
594 in the same period last year.
Toni Harn, chief of public affairs for the battalion, said numbers are
not yet available for the last few months, but noted that Pentagon
officials announced the Army met its recruiting goals for June.
Overall, the Army’s target for the recruiting period that ends in
September is 80,000 regular soldiers and 22,175 reservists.
1st Sgt. Brian Meadows said the Des Moines Battalion is finding more
willing soldiers. He said it’s doing so with fewer recruiters.
“There really is no drop over the previous year,” Meadows said.
Although the number of enlistees fell dramatically short of Army goals
for four months from February to May, officials say there aren’t
fewer people signing up, there are just more soldiers needed because of
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We’re not recruiting less, we’re recruiting more. But we need more,” Meadows said.
Company Commander Paul Bryson said recruiting in wartime is a challenge.
“And the fact that men and women are willing to step up with the
world situation as it is, I really respect their patriotism and
personal courage,” he said.
Re-enlistment is high. Meadows re-upped in December, and Army officials
say nationally the service’s retention rate is running at 104
percent of it goal.
The Army is offering new recruiting initiatives in the face of the challenges, including shorter enlistment periods.
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