[quote=“TainanCowboy”]MikeN-
Got facts?
[quote]Services Meet or Exceed Active Duty Recruiting Goals for 14th Straight Month
WASHINGTON, Aug. 10, 2006 – All active-duty military components met or exceeded their July recruiting goals, Defense Department officials announced today, marking the 14th consecutive month the services have met or exceeded their goals. The Army exceeded its goal of 10,450 recruits; it signed up 10,890 new soldiers, for 104 percent of its goal. The Navy and Air Force both came in at 100 percent, with 4,043 and 2,121 recruited respectively, while the Marine Corps hit 112 percent of its July goal, with 3,197 recruits.
“It demonstrates that men and women of military-service age are finding that they want to contribute in significant ways to this global war of terror and to protecting the freedoms that everyone in this country enjoys,” DoD spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
On the reserve-component side, three of the six components made their goals, but all save one are on track to meet fiscal year goals. The Naval Reserve is at 84 percent of its goal for fiscal 2006. Navy officials said the service is having difficulty meeting the reserve mission. Part of this is because active-duty retention is so high. The Naval Reserve gets most of its people from those leaving active duty. Those people who normally go into the reserve are just not getting out of the active-duty Navy, officials said.
defenselink.mil/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=420[/quote]
And…
[quote]US Army seen reaching recruiting goal despite war
By Will Dunham, Thu Aug 10, 2006 4:50pm ET164
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army, which fell short in recruiting last year, made its 14th straight monthly goal in July and is expected to hit its 2006 target despite the Iraq war making recruiting harder, officials said on Thursday.
Reuters[/quote]
Gee…maybe you need to get your news from a more reliable source.
And you’re Canadian…whats your excuse?
This this about Canadians.[/quote]
like this one?
[quote]Spara said it was “too close to call” whether the Army’s part-time components, the National Guard and Reserve, will reach their 2006 targets. Both missed their July quotas and fell short last year.
The Army provides the bulk of U.S. ground forces in Iraq. Spara said the war continues to complicate recruiting, with parents and other influential adults more likely than in the past to counsel potential recruits against volunteering.
The Army sent 10,890 recruits into boot camp in July, exceeding its biggest goal of the year of 10,450 and pushing it 4 percent above its year-to-date goal. The Army has landed 62,505 recruits through July, and needs 17,495 more in the final two months of fiscal 2006 to meet its goal.
The Army National Guard missed its July goal by 25 percent and stood 1 percent behind its year-to-date goal. The Army Reserve missed its July goal by 13 percent and also was 1 percent behind its year-to-date goal.
The Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force made their July recruiting goals. The part-time Navy Reserve missed, and trailed its year-to-date goal by 16 percent.
Spara attributed the Army’s success to several steps taken to boost recruiting, including monetary enlistment incentives, raising the enlistment age limit to a person’s 42nd birthday, adding recruiters, and relaxing a ban on certain types of tattoos.
Some critics have questioned the quality of some recruits entering the Army. They note the Army is taking more recruits with criminal records, mostly misdemeanors; with body weight exceeding maximum body weight standards; and who fall into the military’s lowest acceptable quality category.
“They’re taking in less-qualified people,” said Lawrence Korb, an assistant secretary of defense under President Ronald Reagan. “Now, what they (Army leaders) will argue is that they are still above the minimum standards.”
But Korb, an analyst with the Center for American Progress, said when the Army brings in more people who do not meet its highest standards, it increases the chances of misconduct in the ranks and of having a less-capable force.
Spara defended the quality of the new recruits, saying, “You know, it’s a question of whether you want a bagel or you want angel food cake. They’re both bread.”[/quote]
