U.S. Army offers shorter enlistment to recruits

[Hawk]

U.S. Army offers shorter enlistment to recruits
12 May 2005 21:05:57 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. Army will allow recruits to sign up for just 15 months of active-duty service, rather than the typical four-year enlistment, as it struggles to lure new soldiers amid the Iraq war, a general said on Thursday.

Maj. Gen. Michael Rochelle, U.S. Army Recruiting Command head, also said this was "the toughest recruiting climate ever faced by the all-volunteer Army," with the war causing concern among potential recruits and their families and the economy offering civilian job prospects.

America abolished the draft in 1973 during the tumult of the Vietnam War era and has since relied on a military made up exclusively of volunteers.

Rochelle said the Army this week expanded nationwide a pilot program in place since October 2003 in 10 cities offering recruits the option of a 15-month active-duty enlistment.

In a conference call with reporters, Rochelle expressed concern about a recent spike in recruiting improprieties. The Army said this week it will suspend recruiting on May 20 to counsel its 7,545 recruiters on ethics.

The Army is examining allegations recruiters offered to help people cheat on drug tests or get phony diplomas. In a recent incident in Texas, a recruiter threatened a 20-year-old man with arrest if he did not get to an interview at a recruiting station by a given time.

"Some of the incidents were flying just below my radar," said Rochelle, who acknowledged the stress experienced by recruiters who work nearly 80 hours per week to attract new soldiers.

Army Recruiting Command spokesman Douglas Smith said as of April 29, the Army had fielded 480 allegations of improper conduct by recruiters in fiscal 2005 beginning Oct. 1. So far, there have been 91 substantiated improprieties, with eight recruiters relieved and 98 recruiters admonished, Smith said.

A NEW OPTION

The Army said some young people might want to serve the country but do not want to dedicate the amount of time required by the normal four-year active-duty enlistment.

They will be offered the option of serving 15 months on active duty after completing their training, and then two years in the part-time Army Reserve or National Guard. The soldier then would spend nearly seven years in the Individual Ready Reserve, which requires no training and until recently was rarely mobilized, or serve in a program like the Peace Corps.

Rochelle said he was "cautiously optimistic" the active-duty Army, now 16 percent behind its year-to-date goal, would reach its goal of 80,000 recruits in fiscal 2005, which ends on Sept. 30. It has missed its recruiting targets the past three months, falling short by a whopping 42 percent in April.

He sounded less optimistic about the Army Reserve, currently 21 percent behind its year-to-date goal, saying achieving its annual goal was "not completely foreclosed."

Rochelle predicted a rough 2006 fiscal year. He said while the Army entered fiscal 2005 with about 18 percent of the year's goal met by recruits who had already committed to enlist, the figure will be about 9.9 percent next year, the lowest number in memory.

The Army has taken other steps to try to lure recruits, including increasing by 5 years to 39 the maximum age for enlisting in the Army Reserve and launching a new ad campaign.

The 15-month enlistment pilot program was in place in Albany, New York; Columbia, South Carolina; Miami; Raleigh, North Carolina, Cleveland, Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Sacramento, California; Mission Viejo, California, and San Antonio, Texas.