Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Military Recruiting Hits Historic Highs

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon's personnel chief said Tuesday the military has completed its best recruiting year since 1973, meeting all its goals and bringing in a better educated group of young people.

The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps met goals for active duty and reserve recruiting during the budget year ended Sept. 30 - the first time that has happened since the all-volunteer force was established, said Defense Department head of personnel Bill Carr.

He told a Pentagon press conference that it's partly because of department spending on finding recruits, even as fewer civilian jobs were available due to the nation's economic problems. He also cited increases in military pay.

For the active-duty force overall, Carr said 96 percent of recruits had a high school diploma, the best showing since 1996. For the Army, it was about 95 percent, up 11 percentage points from the previous year. And 73 percent of Pentagon recruits scored above average on the military's math and verbal aptitude testing, the best showing since 2004, Carr said.

The military spends about $10,000 per recruit, taking into account advertising, recruiter time and office leases for recruiting stations, he said. Recruits are in the 90th percentile of earners for their education and time in the workplace, Carr said.

He said studies show that those born between 1978 and 1996 "are more inclined toward service to society. That's a good thing, because that means we start off stronger with a given group of young people."

There also are factors that limit the pool from which the military must draw roughly 300,000 recruits each year. Some 70 percent of American high school students go on to college now, compared with only half in the 1980s. And one in four in the prime recruiting age of 17 to 24 are obese, raising fitness questions, compared with one in 20 in the 1980s, Carr said.

October 14, 2009
Associated Press

5 comments:

Call Me Grandma said...

Hi AM: Good to see you comment at my place. (Missed you)
How's that new grandbaby?

Julie D said...

Hey AM, I'm here getting caught up on blog reading, finally! Happy Thursday!

Coffeypot said...

Back in the day the military, especially the Army, was about the only alternative for high school drop outs and the less educated. Believe me, I served under some petty officers that had no idea the day of the week, much less what was happening in the Navy. They got promoted due to rote in their jobs. I am really impressed with those serving today. Very bright and intelligent young men and women.

Grandpa-Old Soldier said...

My daughter is a senior this year and in AFROTC. She wants to be a nurse and joice The Air Force.. Although I spent 21 years in the Air force, I don't know if I am ready to let my baby join.. Lots to think about.

MightyMom said...

sounds like things are looking up overall. maybe we're not going to hell in a handbasket as quickly as we think...