If they keep missing their recruiting goals what are they going to do?
By Jim Miklaszewski
NBC News correspondent
Updated: 12:21 p.m. ET May 10, 2005
WASHINGTON - Pentagon officials say it's not a crisis, but it is a major concern "” a battle here at home to win the hearts and minds of potential new recruits.
After more than three years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the all-volunteer military is facing its toughest test yet.
In April, the Army missed its recruiting goal for the third month in a row, short by nearly 2,800 recruits, or 42 percent off its target.
And for the first time in 10 years, the Marine Corps missed its recruiting goal for the last four months.
"Because the Army and Marines are too small and we're employing them in constant operations, our recruiting posture is now coming apart," says retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, an NBC News analyst.
Cash incentives increased
In a desperate attempt to recruit volunteers, the Army has increased cash incentives. Signing bonuses are up from $8,000 to $10,000. College scholarships have been raised from $50,000 to $70,000.
But it's an uphill battle. A decent economy is steering many potential volunteers into private sector jobs. And concerned parents who don't want their sons and daughters going to war are convincing them to not sign up.
In fact, new recruiting commercials are aimed not at recruits, but at their parents.
But the current problem with recruiting could have long-term ramifications on America's ability to take on other potential conflicts.
"This raises questions about whether the all-volunteer force can really cope with a long war," says military analyst Loren Thompson.
Appeal to 'sense of duty'
In an appeal to the nation's patriotism, the Army's vice chief of staff, Gen. Richard Cody, warns this issue is about far more than military service alone.
"This recruiting problem is not just an Army problems, this is America's problem," he said. "And what we have to really do is talk about service to this nation "” and a sense of duty to this nation.")
Military officials remain cautiously optimistic that they will meet their recruiting goals by the end of the year, but until the war in Iraq eases, and large numbers of American troops start coming home, it will remain a tough sell.
More than 40 percent of the ground troops in Iraq have been from the Army's National Guard or Reserve "” and Guard officials warn that by the end of this year they're going to run out of additional troops with the right skills to send to Iraq.
Recruiting alone is not going to fill that need so the regular Army, already stretched thin, is going to have to come up with the numbers.
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This country will never reinstate the draft - and with good reason.
think about it... the last time a war was declared was WWII - after that you saw public opinion of the use of the military start to get very critical. It came to a head with Vietnam when massive protests happened.
Now we have a bunch of people sitting around scratching their heads and wondering if we were lied to about Iraq etc.
A draft simply would not work in this day and age, massive amounts of AWOL recruits, insubordination -- you name it, it would happen.
The ONLY time in the future where it would be deemed as temporarily feasible is when we get into it with china, but CEO's should be on the front lines before any other US citizen.
I don't think we will have a draft again unless world war three comes along. However if we do, I can't see any big deal about it. It worked for my generation. A hitch in the service of ones country is a good way for young folks to learn what we have and what the cost of keeping it is.
So folks what will the goverment do if the military continues to miss it's recruiting goals?
I question the validity of the recuriting goals. I have not done any research on it but my gut feel is that due to the huge number of bases we have all over the world, perhaps a shifting of resources would be in order.
Those answers make a lot of sense but were talking about the US Goverment and an Adminstration that wants to implement Democracy throught the Middle Easdt.
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How long before a draft??
