Nbadan
05-13-2005, 02:59 AM
Army's Top Recruiter Says 2006 May Be Biggest Test
By DAMIEN CAVE
Published: May 13, 2005
The Army's top recruiter, already struggling to meet his quotas this year, said yesterday that 2006 would be even harder, and perhaps the toughest year for recruiting since the all-volunteer force began in 1973.
Maj. Gen. Michael D. Rochelle, in a telephone interview, said the Army would most likely start its fiscal year this October with the smallest pool of recruits ready for boot camp in at least a decade. He said that by then, only 9.9 percent of the roughly 80,000 new active-duty soldiers the Army needs next year to replenish the ranks in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere were expected to be in the pipeline.
Normally, as the Army begins its recruiting year, it has a goal of having already-signed contracts with one in every three of the year's expected arrivals - a cushion that helps recruiters through the slow winter months. But this year, the Army started with one in five, and if General Rochelle's prediction is correct, next year will begin with only one in 10.
The general said that prospect was "not a bright picture" and blamed a variety of factors, from the war in Iraq, to an improving economy, to family members and friends of applicants who he said often dissuade recruits from joining.
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NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/13/nyregion/13recruit.html)
More from the article...
Beth J. Asch, a senior economist specializing in military personnel at the RAND Corporation, a military-financed research organization, described the general's prediction as "near disastrous."
She said the reduced pool of enlistees would force the Army's 7,500 recruiters, already struggling under intense pressure, to find applicants, verify that they are qualified and send them to boot camp in 30 days or fewer. In 2004, recruits typically waited 110 days to report to boot camp after signing up; as of March, that had dwindled to 50 days.
"It's comparable to having no savings account," Ms. Asch said. "They'll be living month to month."
Anyone remember what then Tx Governor Bush said about Clinton's nation building in Somalia?
"Somalia. Started off as a humanitarian mission then changed into a nation-building mission, and that's where the mission went wrong. The mission was changed. And as a result, our nation paid a price.
And so I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building.
I wouldn't have sent troops to Haiti. I didn't think it was a mission worthwhile. It was a nation-building mission.
I mean, we're going to have kind of a nation-building corps from America? Absolutely not.
CBS News (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/10/11/politics/main240442.shtml)
By DAMIEN CAVE
Published: May 13, 2005
The Army's top recruiter, already struggling to meet his quotas this year, said yesterday that 2006 would be even harder, and perhaps the toughest year for recruiting since the all-volunteer force began in 1973.
Maj. Gen. Michael D. Rochelle, in a telephone interview, said the Army would most likely start its fiscal year this October with the smallest pool of recruits ready for boot camp in at least a decade. He said that by then, only 9.9 percent of the roughly 80,000 new active-duty soldiers the Army needs next year to replenish the ranks in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere were expected to be in the pipeline.
Normally, as the Army begins its recruiting year, it has a goal of having already-signed contracts with one in every three of the year's expected arrivals - a cushion that helps recruiters through the slow winter months. But this year, the Army started with one in five, and if General Rochelle's prediction is correct, next year will begin with only one in 10.
The general said that prospect was "not a bright picture" and blamed a variety of factors, from the war in Iraq, to an improving economy, to family members and friends of applicants who he said often dissuade recruits from joining.
<</SNIP>>
NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/13/nyregion/13recruit.html)
More from the article...
Beth J. Asch, a senior economist specializing in military personnel at the RAND Corporation, a military-financed research organization, described the general's prediction as "near disastrous."
She said the reduced pool of enlistees would force the Army's 7,500 recruiters, already struggling under intense pressure, to find applicants, verify that they are qualified and send them to boot camp in 30 days or fewer. In 2004, recruits typically waited 110 days to report to boot camp after signing up; as of March, that had dwindled to 50 days.
"It's comparable to having no savings account," Ms. Asch said. "They'll be living month to month."
Anyone remember what then Tx Governor Bush said about Clinton's nation building in Somalia?
"Somalia. Started off as a humanitarian mission then changed into a nation-building mission, and that's where the mission went wrong. The mission was changed. And as a result, our nation paid a price.
And so I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building.
I wouldn't have sent troops to Haiti. I didn't think it was a mission worthwhile. It was a nation-building mission.
I mean, we're going to have kind of a nation-building corps from America? Absolutely not.
CBS News (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/10/11/politics/main240442.shtml)