Area enlistment steady, bucking national trend

With reports and comments from high-ranking military personnel suggesting that the active-duty Army is in danger of failing to meet its recruiting goals on the national front in 2005, the top local Army recruit-er said the Cape Girardeau area consistently hits its recruitment target.

"We've done very well over the past three years," said Capt. Greg Robertson, company commander for the Cape Girardeau Recruiting Company. "Cape has a good reputation for meeting its goals on a yearly basis."

Robertson said that the local company, which has a recruiting area stretching north to Festus, south to Sikeston and east into Southern Illinois, is currently ranked in the top 20 in the country by the U.S. Army Recruiting Command.

"Cape Girardeau is one of the most successful recruiting companies in the Army," Robertson said. "This is a highly patriotic area. You know and I know that the community is 100 percent behind the mission."

Not that the company is perfect, Robertson said. He said that the company didn't meet its goals in December or January of enlisting 40 new recruits for regular full-time Army and Reserves.

But that's not because of fears of serving in Iraq or Afghani-stan, as national reports suggest. It's because recruiters and potential recruits are on vacation during Christmas and New Year's, he said.

"But we're still not on target to fail," Robertson said. "We're doing pretty well, and we've got the entire recruiting year to make up any deficiencies. ... That's the sort of thing that happens every year."

The picture may not be as rosy, however, on the national level. According to a Washington Post report, only 18.4 percent of the year's goal of 80,000 new active-duty recruits were preparing to enlist at the beginning of the fiscal year in October. That amounts to less than half of last year's figure and well below the Army's goal of 25 percent.

The Marine Corps has similar worries as it fell short of its monthly recruiting quota in January for the first time in nearly a decade.

However, the Air Force and the Navy are having banner years and may wind up turning away thousands of potential recruits. The Air Force is so overstocked that it has a backlog of about 9,000 enlistees and has slashed its 2005 recruiting target from 35,000 to 24,000. Together, the Air Force and the Navy are planning to cut more than 27,000 airmen and sailors in 2005.

One of the primary reasons the Air Force and the Navy are so flush with people and willing recruits, experts say, is that those branches have suffered relatively few casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Some see worrisome signs that young American men and women are growing wary of military service, largely because of the Iraq conflict. Lt. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck, the Army's personnel chief, suggested as much in his Post interview.

"Very frankly, in a couple of places, our recruiting pool is getting very soft," he said. "We're hearing things like, 'Well, let's wait and see how this thing settles out in Iraq.' For the active duty for '05 it's going to be tough to meet our goal, but I think we can."

Robertson admits that the war can make recruiting more challenging.

"But I would argue that it is offset by the patriotism that's out there," he said. "Sure you get things like, 'I'm worried about going to Iraq.' Yes, that's part of the job. But chances of getting killed or injured are not very high at all. The casualty figures are less than 1 percent. So we deal with that."

Robertson also points out that the active Army recruited 77,587 soldiers in fiscal year 2004, surpassing its goal of 77,000.

Young men and women -- at least locally -- may not be any more concerned about serving in wartime at any other time. Sarah Nussbaum, a counselor at Jackson High School, said as many students inquire about the military now as they did before the Iraq war.

"I think they look at all the options that it has to offer them, especially as it's related to helping pay for college," she said. "It's a good option for a lot of students."

She said students who ask about the military have already weighed the risks. Nussbaum's son, Andrew, is a civilian contractor working in Iraq.

Robertson said the Army has prepared for the potential of declining recruitment. He said three additional recruiters will be assigned to the company by the end of next month.

Cash bonuses and other incentives have been dramatically increased in size and number to entice new recruits and keep veteran troops in uniform. Robertson said the Army has increased the maximum bonus for entering the Army Reserves from active duty by $7,000.

The Army College Fund has been increased from $60,000 to $70,000 for soldiers to use to pay off their higher education bills after their military career. Those with bachelor's degrees can get $8,000 instead of $4,000 for joining the active duty Army. Taking on specialty jobs also pays more.

But that's not entirely being done to bolster a wartime Army, Robertson said.

"It's basically just like we've increased pay for the military across the board," he said. "We know we need to stay ahead of what's been offered in the civilian world."

The Army has been preparing for this for three years.

"We could see the need for a plan for longer-term operations," he said. "We're not without a plan. We're not reacting and panicking and screaming 'We've got to get more recruits.' We may be experiencing the pressure of being at war over time, but I think we're meeting that challenge very well."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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