All Services Meet or Exceed October Recruiting Goals

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Nov. 13, 2009 - All active-duty and reserve-component military branches met or exceeded their recruiting goals for October, Defense Department officials said. October's results – the first for fiscal 2010 -- continue a successful military recruiting mission that experienced a banner year in fiscal 2009.

Active and reserve military components notched record recruiting numbers in fiscal 2009 and also signed up the highest-quality recruits since the all-volunteer force began in 1973, Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy, told Pentagon reporters at an Oct. 13 news conference.

Active-duty military recruiting continued its winning ways in October:

-- The Army signed up 6,914 active-duty soldiers in October, making 101 percent of its 6,858 goal.

-- The Navy signed up 2,926 active-duty sailors in October, making 100 percent of its 2,926 goal.

-- The Marine Corps signed up 2,851 active-duty Marines in October, making 100 percent of its 2,843 goal.

-- The Air Force signed up 2,198 active-duty airmen in October, making 100 percent of its 2,198 goal.

All four active-duty services also met or exceeded their retention goals for October.

All six reserve components met or exceeded their recruiting goals in October:

-- The Army National Guard had 4,425 accessions, making 112 percent of its 3,947 goal.

-- The Army Reserve had 3,348 accessions, making 125 percent of its 2,675 goal.

-- The Navy Reserve had 671 accessions, making 100 percent of its 671 goal.

-- The Marine Corps Reserve had 1,132 accessions, making 144 percent of its 787 goal.

-- The Air National Guard had 698 accessions, making 124 percent of its 562 goal.

-- The Air Force Reserve had 1,083 accessions, making 100 percent of its 1,083 goal.

Attrition losses for the reserve components are not available, pending corrections and resubmissions from services, officials said.

Carr acknowledged that the current economic downturn probably is having a positive effect on recruiting, but he also pointed to the efforts of military recruiters for the results in fiscal 2009, noting that the military deployed a robust bonus program in which 40 percent of recruits received an average bonus of $14,000.

And last year's success should positively affect the military's recruiting mission in fiscal 2010, Carr added.

"You just don't start recruiting from zero. ... You would start with the number [of recruits] that are under contract to report for training in the months ahead," Carr pointed out.

For example, the Army's active-duty recruiting goal for fiscal 2010 is about 74,500 soldiers, Maj. Gen. Donald M. Campbell Jr., chief of Army Recruiting Command, told Pentagon reporters at the Oct. 13 news conference.

However, Campbell said, the Army had signed up about 30,000 new active soldiers through delayed-entry programs. And these troops, he said, will count toward the Army's fiscal 2010 recruiting goal.