Active, Reserve Components Maintain Strong Recruiting

American Forces Press Service

March 19, 2010 - Three of the four services and all of the reserve components met or exceeded their recruiting goals for February, Pentagon officials reported.

The Marine Corps intentionally missed its monthly accession goal to ensure its end strength stays within authorized levels, according to a Defense Department-issued statement.

Here is the breakdown among active duty services:

-- The Army had the most recruits – 6,537 toward its goal of 6,389, or 102 percent of its goal.

-- The Navy and Air Force both met 100 percent of their monthly accessions at 2,941 and 2,430, respectively.

-- The Marine Corps recruited 99 percent of its goal of 919 accessions, with 906 new recruits.

Three of the four active duty services met their retention goals for the first five months of the fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. The Air Force missed the Defense Department's retention benchmark for its first-term airmen, but attained the benchmarks in all other retention categories, officials said.

All six reserve components met or exceed their recruiting goals, officials said. Here is the breakdown:

-- The Marine Corps Reserve met 144 percent of its goal with 738 recruits.

-- The Army National Guard met 143 percent of its goal with 6,607 recruits.

-- The Army Reserve met 106 percent of its goal with 2,421 recruits.

-- Air National Guard met 104 percent of its goal with 554 recruits.

-- The Navy and Air Force reserves each met 100 percent of their goals with 454 and 735 recruits, respectively.

All reserve components had acceptable levels of attrition, officials said.