Army falls short of mark for recruits - Despite slip in May, 2007 goal on track

Army falls short of mark for recruits - Despite slip in May, 2007 goal on track
By Peter Spiegel
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times
Published June 12, 2007

WASHINGTON -- The Army missed its May recruiting goal by nearly 400 soldiers, or slightly more than 7 percent, marking the first time in almost two years that the service has fallen short.

Army officials said May commonly has been one of the more difficult recruiting months, with the school year coming to a close in many areas. They noted that even with the lower numbers, the Army is about 2,000 recruits ahead of this year's goal of 80,000 new soldiers.

"I think the amazing thing is we're getting 80,000 patriotic Americans a year to join an Army at war," said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a spokesman for the Army general staff department responsible for personnel issues.

But the falloff comes as the Army has been raising recruiting bonuses and easing the criteria for those it accepts. The number of soldiers drawn from recruits with low scores on entrance aptitude tests has gone from 2 percent to 4 percent of the total, and the number of recruits given "moral waivers" to join the Army despite past minor brushes with the law has increased.

Commanders have been trying to ramp up recruitment to meet the Bush administration's plan to increase the overall size of the Army to 547,000, with the addition of 65,000 soldiers, over the next five years.

The Army enlisted 5,101 new soldiers in May, short of the 5,500 it was seeking. The Army last missed its monthly numbers in September 2006. But recruiting officials still count that month as a success because they say they intentionally ramped down efforts after reaching their goal for fiscal 2006, which ended Sept. 30.

All other active-duty services reported either hitting or exceeding their May goals. The Army National Guard also missed its goal, enlisting 5,612 soldiers -- 791 short of its goal.