Army plans recruiting summit

[unhappycamper]

Army plans recruiting summit
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Oct 4, 2007 21:24:49 EDT

Army leaders will consider growing the 80,000 annual recruiting goal when they meet at a recruiting summit in mid-October.

The Army intends to reach an end-strength of 547,000 by 2011, if not sooner, with a combination of recruiting and retention. Leaders may also go beyond the annual recruiting mission that has stood at 80,000 for the past three fiscal years.

“We’re having a recruiting summit, the chief of staff of the Army, myself and the leadership at the recruiting command, and that’s going to be one of our topics, whether to raise it or to keep it where it is,” Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Dick Cody said.

He and the Army secretary and chief at the time considered a “stretch goal” when they looked at the mission for fiscal 2007 a year ago, he recalled.

The big push to recruit soldiers late in fiscal year 2007 included a $20,000 quick-ship bonus and has drained the service’s Delayed Entry Pool.

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, commander of Accessions Command, estimated the service will have 6,500 to 7,000 soldiers in the DEP, or less than 9 percent of the 80,000 goal. The Army had about 12 percent of its goal in the DEP entering fiscal 2007.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/10/army_codyrecruit_071004w/