By Here is more on the recent recruiting boom for the US military:
Middle-class American youth are entering the military in significant numbers today, drawn by more competitive pay, a battered civilian job market and the buzz surrounding an improved GI Bill education benefit.
The Department of Defense announced last week that for the first time since the draft ended and the all-volunteer force began 36 years ago, every service branch and reserve component met or exceeded its recruiting goals, both in numbers and quality, in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
A closer look at socio-economic data from recent year groups of recruits shows a rising number drawn from middle-income and higher-income families. Dr. Curtis Gilroy, director of accession policy for the Department of Defense, explained it by noting the military remains an institution held in high regard, pay has grown steadily more competitive and violence has fallen sharply in Iraq. This leaves parents, teachers, coaches and other “influencers” more willing today to recommend military service.
Patriotism, too, is an important factor, he said. But the first reason he gives for 2009 being a “banner year” for recruiting is the weak economy. [Stars & Stripes]
I’m not sure how the new GI Bill effects recruiting, but I can tell you it has definitely helped with retention because of the transferability of GI Bill benefits to the children of servicemembers.
Make sure to read the rest of the article for some interesting statistics such as this which I have been saying this for years that the military isn’t filled with people from the trailer parks and ghettos:
In an interview Tuesday, Gilroy said the socio-economic data dispels the myth that recruits hail disproportionately from families in poverty or surviving on modest incomes. He cited a Heritage Foundation study showing that from 1999 to 2007, the percentage of non-prior-service recruits entering the military from families in the nation’s poorest neighborhoods fell from 18 percent down to 10.7 percent. Recruits from families living in richest one-fifth of neighborhoods rose from 18.6 percent to 24.9 percent.
Recruits in 2006 and 2007, the latest years for available data, were modestly overrepresentative of neighborhoods where average family income is $40,000 or more. Neighborhoods with family incomes below $40,000 were underrepresented among recruits signed during those two years.
I’m sure some people out there will just continue to believe the myths though. As much as some people want so desperately to believe otherwise, the military is not full of uneducated low life criminals. If anything we have never had a more educated and professional force than we have now, which is testament to the hard work of the US military recruiters that have been able to keep the force filled in the midst of a force expansion, transformation, an on going war, and a anti-military campaign being launched by some sectors of American society to include George Soros funded groups.
The facts clearly show that military recruits are smarter, increasingly middle class, (even the numbers of wealthy enlisting is up) and the number of poor and minority recruits are dropping with more whites joining and the overall numbers are nearing the make up of the average US population.
Facts are hard for the demagogues, the race baiters, and class warfare specialists to accept, but the War on Terror has actually caused the demographic make up of the US military to become more of a direct reflection of American society itself. What is so bad about that?
What does this say about Americans?...
6:50 am on October 27th, 2009 1
Would one of you please answer a question?
One of the goals in Afghanistan is to train their security forces. When we go on a training mission don’t we train the trainers? (Afghans) and then wouldn’t THEY do the future training?
And why is it so hard to train someone to man a roadblock or go out on patrol?
I know that there is a problem in that 80% of the population cannot read or write but that would not affect the average soldier except for the NCO’s and officers.
7:17 am on October 27th, 2009 2
Are you kidding? Go to Camp Casey 2ID is a bunch of hoodlums with tattoes and a chip on their shoulder. The Army is the lowest of the low on planet earth…
7:53 am on October 27th, 2009 3
Could the state of the economy have anything to do with it?
12:00 pm on October 27th, 2009 4
Numbers can be produced to say a lot of different things. So, I look at what is said and unsaid.
I wouldn’t call Stars and Stripes or the writer Tom Philpott leftists doing a hit piece because they chose the less than rosy headline “Weak job market drives middle-class recruiting” as the title for the story.
I would like to see the aggregation of “military recruit” broken down a little more. And, don’t just look at the outcome. Look at the process and the costs too. What sweeteners have to be added to get the results?
The Stars and Stripes article also had these numbers:
It seems the Army needed more sweetener per soldier than the others, so I took a look a the services’ Bonus and Incentive programs: Army, Navy, Marine Corp, and Air Force.
Most bonuses are tied to high demand specialities the service members are qualified for. Not so much in the Army. The Army Advantage Fund (AAF); a trial program that offers $25K to $40K for just completing a 3 to 5 year term of enlistment! Another program called the High School Senior Deferred Enlistment Bonus or Future Soldier Training Program, I had to reread several times to be sure I wasn’t misunderstanding it:
So let me get this straight. A kid who is already a high school senior talks to a recruiter and signs up for the program. From then on he gets $1000 a month until he graduates and then another $1000 upon graduation. Not to exceed $14K!
When I went to high school, the school year was from September to June; 10 months. So, maybe we have to grant that some kids may be a little slow and need remedial help over the summer to finish. But that sure sounds like an awful expensive way to recruit high school graduates.
My main point is, the full picture of military recruiting and retention is more multidimensional and nuanced than any set of numbers or results can show. It’s definitely not as simple as suggesting kids are becoming more patriotic and gung ho.
6:41 pm on October 27th, 2009 5
Joe I never suggested kids are becoming more patriotic and gung ho. All I am saying is that the military is not filled with the uneducated, gang banger, criminals recruited from poor minority neighborhoods that many people want the public to believe the military is filled with. The stats show this is not true.
As far as bonuses I have no problem with them when the US military has to compete for recruits in a strong economy. With the economy tanking, these bonuses are now going away:
7:42 pm on October 27th, 2009 6
I added that last line because I thought if you eliminated all the income and social demographics ‘myths,’ then that would be the logical conclusion.
I am sure the Army is optimistic that the poor economy will allow them to reduce their financial incentives to recruiting. But, I wanted to point out that, up until now, those programs have probably been a significant underlying factor in driving recruiting numbers, even for those in the specified above $40K income families.
8:05 pm on October 27th, 2009 7
Up to 4000 recruits a month are now being trained, yet they only have a military of 68,000 after 8 years.
Most of the troops are ineffectual, tribal, and very illiterate. Teaching them to poop in a latrine is an issue, rather than wherever they want.
The very high ups are corrupt, stealing the food, fuel, building funds. Selling contracts, information and any item of value that they have access to. Its considered the spoils of war in Afganistan and an accepted practice.
The new recruits get trained, have no leadership, then quit.
Everything else is politics telling everyone the progress they have made.
War in Afganistan is an equal opportunity employer for both sides. No predudice over who dies, but lots of opportunity to make money.
8:16 pm on October 27th, 2009 8
Richard you might want to read this:
http://rokdrop.com/forums/topic.php?id=193
Best article I have seen on Afghanistan in a while.
The reason why some ANA cannot man a road block or go on patrol has nothing to do with training and more to do with will, corruption, and politics.
11:06 pm on October 27th, 2009 9
Ahhhh…. no. The lowest of the low are internet trolls. Looked in a mirror lately?
7:32 pm on October 28th, 2009 10
You’ve obviously led a very sheltered life. You have yet to meet the lowest of the low. If you did, you’d be the happiest person in the world to see the guys with the tattoos and a chip on their shoulder show up. They are worth their weight in gold when the going gets rough. But I doubt you would have any idea what that means. Go have another latte’.