Army National Guard Recruiting Falling Short

[Judi Lynn]

Army National Guard Recruiting Falling Short
Mon Jul 26, 2004 05:38 PM ET

By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army is lagging about 12 percent behind its recruiting goal for the Army National Guard amid the Pentagon's heavy reliance on such troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, officials said on Monday.

Amid predictions by critics that the difficult duty in Iraq and Afghanistan may harm the all-volunteer U.S. military's ability to attract and keep troops, Gen. Peter Shoomaker, Army chief of staff, told a Pentagon briefing he was watching the situation closely. National Guard recruiting was at only 88 percent of its goal, Shoomaker said. "However, we remain cautiously optimistic that we will make our goal," he added.

But the National Guard was slightly exceeding its target for retention -- soldiers opting to remain in the service -- while the active-duty Army and part-time Army Reserve both were generally meeting retention and recruitment goals, Shoomaker said.

Soldiers from the Army National Guard and Army Reserve account for about 40 percent of the roughly 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. About 127,000 Army National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers are currently mobilized on active duty.
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On edit: corrected link. Sorry.

[IndianaGreen]

1. Well DOH!

What can they expect when they turn the National Guard into another extension of the active military? People won't join the Guard, much less stay in it, if they are going to be deployed for months on a war with no end.

[saigon68]

2. "BRING EM ON" shouted the DRAFT-DODGING CHIMPANZEE

"No one in my family will be killed in Dick Cheney's oily Halliburton War. We will however maximize our dividend and stock options fortune because of it." the chimp continued.

Anyone who joins the service Right Now is some kind of Psycho--- apparently there are a lot of young RAMBO WANNABES out there , who want to smoke some RAGHEAD with an M-16.

[Nambe]

3. Are all the right wing hawks hiking in the chicken coop?

I guess if you vote for one, you probably are one. This is a strange country.

[AndyTiedye]

4. Does "Stop Loss" Count as "Retention"?

Even if it doesn't, they've been pulling stuff like
"you might as well reenlist and get the bonus, otherwise we're going to
stop-loss you anyway and you won't get anything."