Army To Expand Recruiting Incentives
Need a down-payment for your home? Seed money to start a business? The Army wants to help—if you’re willing to join up. Despite spending nearly $1 billion last year on recruiting bonuses and ads, Army leaders say an even bolder approach is needed to fill wartime ranks.
Under a new proposal, men and women who enlist could pick from a “buffet” of incentives, including up to $45,000 tax-free that they accrue during their career to help buy a home or build a business. Other options would include money for college and to pay off student loans.
A review of the increasingly aggressive recruiting offerings found the Army is not only dangling more sign-up rewards—it’s loosening rules on age and weight limits, education and drug and criminal records.
It’s all part of an Army effort to fill its ranks even as the percentage of young people who say they plan to join the military has hit a historic low—16 percent by the Pentagon’s own surveying—in the fifth year of the Iraq war.
In June, the Army failed to meet its recruitment target for the second month in a row, although it apparently met its goal to recruit 9,750 troops in July and is on target for 80,000 for the year that ends Sept. 30.
As part of a push to make its 2007 goals, the Army is boosting the size of its 8,000-member recruiting force with 1,000 to 2,000 assistants—including some former recruiters.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to increase the size of the active-duty Army by 65,000 to a total of 547,000 within five years. In part, that’s to ease the wartime strain on the Army, which is the largest branch of the military.
“Recruiting next year and beyond will remain challenging and will … require additional innovative approaches,” said Lt. Col. Michael Rochelle, the Pentagon’s deputy chief of staff for personnel. He asked lawmakers last week on Capitol Hill for money to pay for the new program.
Rochelle described the latest offering as an updated version of the Army’s college fund, a popular program started in 1982 to help soldiers pay for college.
The Army would like to start a pilot program targeting 500 people who might not otherwise considering joining. In the pilot, the takers who complete a 4-year enlistment would be eligible for up to $30,000 in incentives—including money for a home loan or business. Eventually, the Army wants to offer up to $45,000.
Beyond the Iraq war, the military says other factors have affected its ability to recruit. More high school graduates are going to college, and the economy is strong, providing lots of civilian jobs. At the same time, only three of 10 people between 17 and 24 fully meet the military’s standards.
Less obvious factors have also decreased the recruitment pool. They include higher obesity rates, more people diagnosed with mental health conditions such as attention-deficit disorder, more criminal citations due to the increase of the drinking age from 18 to 21.
“The numbers of people who meet our enlistment standards is astonishingly low,” said Michael Dominguez, principal deputy undersecretary of defense.
Among the changes that have helped attract more recruits:
—Increasing to $20,000 the bonus for troops who join by Sept. 30 and leave for boot camp within a month.
—Raising the enlistment age to 42.
—Allowing recruits to come in with non-offensive tattoos on their hands and neck.
—Offering a $2,000 bonus to Army soldiers who refer a new recruit.
—Enlisting recruits who don’t meet weight standards and must trim down their first year.
—Advertising that targets potential recruits’ parents.
—Increasing the number of recruits with general education diplomas rather than regular high school diplomas.
—Creating a more pleasant boot camp environment.
—Sending “gung-ho” soldiers fresh from boot camp or war zones back to their hometowns to visit old friends and schoolmates to promote the Army.
—Increasing to more than 15 percent the number of Army and Army Reserve troops given waivers for medical and moral reasons or for positive drug and alcohol screen tests.
Tyka Pettey, 21, of Philadelphia, said she was fully aware of the risks when she signed up in late July for a six-year stint in the Army Reserve. Doing so will help her pay to go to college in a medical field. With her $20,000 bonus, she plans to buy a car and pay off debt.
She said she had been thinking about joining for more than a year. Once she made the decision, she said she was impressed with how much the recruiters in Upper Darby, Pa., were able to help her.
“You really have to want to do something like that. You’re really taking a major step from your civilian life … but I just decided to go for it,” said Pettey, who leaves in about a week for boot camp.
The Army spent $353 million last year on enlistment bonuses, $583 million on recruiting and advertising and $700 million on pay and benefits for recruiters, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said her organization is concerned that low-income young people and minorities are targeted by recruiters and lured with promises into making decisions they would not otherwise have made.
“I think as the incentives increase, the potential for misrepresentation and abuse increases,” Lieberman said.
Irene Fiala, a sociology professor at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania who has researched recruiting trends, said the military is attempting to change with society because the days are over when it was an American virtue to join and it was expected that all young men would do so.
“Uncle Sam pointing his finger at you saying, ‘We want you,’ isn’t cutting it for today’s kids,” Fiala said. “Today’s kids are saying, ‘Yeah, you want me and so does GE and so does MIT, so what else are you going to offer me?’”
It’s not just the attitudes of young people that have seemingly shifted. In 2005, statistical surveys revealed that because of the Iraq war, adults who work with students were less likely to suggest joining the military.
“The willingness of coaches, teachers, counselors and parents to commend military service to America’s youth is lower than is good for our nation and our military,” said Dominguez, the Defense Department official.
(AP)
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You know what I got when I enlisted? A 2800 field MOS. I didn’t want, or need, anything special. There were so many push-button Corporals (guaranteed in 18 months, I think) that the cutting score for us was pretty high. I picked it up in 2.5 years.
It’s sad the Army has to go to this extreme.
August 9th, 2007 at 7:07 pmHeinous. Fucking heinous.
I would say about 10% of my platoon in bootcamp received a sign-on bonus, usually for choosing logistics option or being a quick-shipper. The biggest bonus? $3000. And the funny thing is, the Marine Corps is exceeding it’s goals.
Here’s some quotes that should make you worry: “it’s loosening rules on age and weight limits, education and drug and criminal records.” “Raising the enlistment age to 42.”
But this is my favorite: “Creating a more pleasant boot camp environment.” I’d laugh if I didn’t know that I’m going to go off to war with bought-off over-the-hill drug-using mentally-disabled fat sissies who don’t know the meaning of the words stress, pain, and discipline. Creating a more pleasant bootcamp environment means more dead soldiers.
Earning the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor is worth more to me than any signing bonus. Nasty Army. Here’s an idea, Secretary Gates: why don’t you take a few billion away from the Army and give it to the Corps? We’re the ones who actually get shit done. Just ask Fallujah and Ramadi, they’ll tell you.
August 9th, 2007 at 7:09 pmCreating a more pleasant boot-camp environment? That’s really sad…
August 9th, 2007 at 8:00 pmthey may be lowering the standards, but they are still higher than in ‘67 when i went in and they were drafting then also..reenlistment bonuses were common,, except for me(they let me out early,, hmmmm i wonder why??),,remember that in 2000 there were no army units fit for deployment, because of the clinton military policy of destruction,, our eqpuipment was all junk and unrepairable,, all the new stuff the guys and gals have now was designed by,,,,, hmmmmmm oh yeah rummy,,and the dems condemned him for fixing our broken and disrespected military,, everyone wanted a shot at em and now no one wants to take em on…. thanx don and george,,,
August 9th, 2007 at 8:12 pmI used to work with a guy who was 82nd Airborne. I got out in 90, and he joined the Army in the 90s sometime. Anyway, he said, at Jump School, some guy informed a superior (E5+, I don’t know what rank) that he was in the guys personal space, something like that. You know, the space the DI is in when the brim of his Smokey Bear is near your forehead.
That didn’t go over too well. He found himself low crawling across the base or something.
“You’re in my personal space, Sergeant?” WTF, over?
He also said, at least when he was there, that rank wasn’t relevant. There was a Marine there, LCpl or Cpl maybe, who was exercising his rank and the soldiers would have none of it. Can you imagine a Marine Private or PFC just flat out ignoring a Corporal? Ouch, that’s gonna leave a mark. But that’s the difference between the Army and Marines.
Heck, when I was going to my MOS school at Fort Gordon, Georgia, the soldiers there still had Drill Sergeants. It was basically Basic Training light for them. When we got out of school, if we didn’t have duty or other responsibilities, we could go do whatever. Not the soldiers, they didn’t have it nearly as good. And it was their base.
August 9th, 2007 at 10:28 pmI think everything will be just fine. I like the one about the $45,000 tax free part so you can buy a house when you get out. These inticements probably get paid out after your time is up. They’re nice things to look forward to and they’re guaranteed. Investments go up, they go down. Investing in yourself Uncle Sam guarantees. My concept of the military back in the 60s was the barrel chested, square jawed guy on the recruiting poster and a cousin that joined the Marines. I got a few draft notices and said, “moi?” I was totally oblivious to what was going on in the world and never even heard of Vietnam. My wanting a draft card was I was now legally able to drink in DC. At that time we lived in a Maryland suburb. Not that I had a poor self-image, but, I really thought when I went for my enlistment physical they’d say, ‘oh, no,’ we didn’t mean you’. Turned out they said, ‘about time you showed up, we thought you’d never get here’. I was busy. Then it got busier in ways I’d never imagined myself being able to participate. Wound up staying in for five years. Got out in ‘72. Joined the Guard in ‘84 and did another ten years. Makes you a world participator, whether you’re full or part time. I’ve had plenty of time on both sides of the fence and I’ve found that those that have participated seem to be more civilized than the average bear.
August 10th, 2007 at 3:29 amOne more thing. I’ve often thought that people with attention deficit had a problem with thinking of a million things to do and can’t narrow it down to one. The military gets you focused.
August 10th, 2007 at 4:02 amWhy is it Marines that work in a freakin motor pool or office typing on a keyboard still insist they are the baddest people on the planet?
August 10th, 2007 at 4:51 amE4Puke, why do they insist? Because they are.
August 10th, 2007 at 6:42 amCome on, guys. It’s a ploy … Didn’t yunz see Private Benjamin??
August 10th, 2007 at 3:10 pm