National Guard shifts strategy to attract recruits
Thursday, November 4, 2004 at 03:48PM
TheSpook
Free hunting and fishing licenses. More chances
to get signing bonuses. Pink T-shirts for women. The Army National
Guard, which has fallen short of recruiting goals during the prolonged
fighting in Iraq, is trying new marketing beyond the traditional
enticement of college tuition aid. "There are fewer people who are
voluntarily expressing an interest -- calling or returning postcards,"
said Lt. Col. Dan Kenkel, spokesman for the Guard in Nebraska.
Nationally, the Army Guard reached 88 percent of its goal of 56,000
recruits by the end of September, signing up 49,210. "Recruiting is
tougher than it's been in awhile," said James Sims, spokesman for the
Ohio Guard, which is about 500 off its target of 2,100 recruits. Guard
officials around the country blame concerns about the Iraq war,
Pentagon orders that keep some soldiers from leaving active duty and
going into the Guard, and turnover among recruiters, some of whom have
been sent overseas. Of the 100,000 Army Guard members sent to Iraq,
about 110 have died. In the past, young people saw enlisting as a way
to get college tuition with little risk to themselves, said Lt. Col.
Greg Hapgood, spokesman for the Iowa National Guard. "Today, that risk
has changed," he said. [more]