Conflict in Iraq hampers recruiting
The Army expects to fall short in recruiting soldiers, partly because of a lack of support for the U.S. invasion.
By MARCUS FRANKLIN
Published March 28, 2005
In one sentence, Wayne Fields can tell you why he refuses to enlist in the military: "I don't see any point in this war and I don't want to lose my life over it," the 20-year-old said, referring to the conflict in Iraq.
Two years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, views like Fields' are hurting efforts by one branch of the military to recruit enlistees at a time when military officials say they are badly needed.
The Army last week said it likely will fall short of its recruiting goals in March and April. As of February, it had missed its national recruiting goal by 2,500 people, or 6 percent, for fiscal 2005.
In the Tampa recruiting region - which covers Naples to the south, Brooksville to the north and Orlando to the east - new Army enlistments plunged 20 percent between 2000 and 2004.
One reason for the decline: a lack of support for the invasion of Iraq among women and young people, particularly black Americans, a segment the Army has long relied on to fill its ranks. An Army spokesman also cited what he described as an "improving economy" for the decrease.
"More African-Americans identify having to fight for a cause they don't support as a barrier to military service," concluded one of several studies commissioned by the Army.
"The war has caused apprehension on the part of some prospects and their families," Army Recruiting Command spokesman Douglas Smith said in an interview with the Times.
"It doesn't mean failure," Smith said of the projected shortfalls. "It does mean we're going to be working harder to make our mission."
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At 23 percent, the proportion of black Americans among the Army's active duty service members is almost twice their 12 percent of the U.S. population.
But the percentage of black Americans in the Army's recruit classes is falling swiftly. They made up 24 percent of new recruits in 2000, and 15.9 percent in 2004. As of Feb. 9, it was down to 13.9 percent.
The Army blames, in part, the military conflict in Iraq, where about 150,000 U.S. troops remain. More than 1,500 have died, mostly in hostile combat, since the invasion March 19, 2003. More than 10,000 have suffered injuries. The Army makes up most of the ground forces and casualties in Iraq, said Smith, the recruiting command spokesman.
The decrease also might be affected by differences in the way blacks and whites view the Iraq conflict. A 2004 survey by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington think tank, found that 51 percent of whites disapproved of the war compared with 72 percent of blacks.
The "fear factor" among all potential recruits is twice as high as in 2000, according to one of the recent Army studies.
Fields, a black Carrollwood resident attending Hillsborough Community College, is the son of Jamaican immigrants who support President Bush, he said, mainly because "he's a Christian and against gay rights."
Fields said that since graduating from Leto High School in 2000, he has thought about joining the military to help pay for college. For now, though, he has put that thought on hold.
But it isn't fear that's holding him back, he said.
"I'm not afraid to die. I'll go to heaven. I'm a Christian," Fields said. "I love this country. I respect it. There are plenty of opportunities. But I see no cause, so I'm not going to fight. If President Bush came to my house and gave me a good reason why I should go to war I might reconsider, but for now the answer is no."
In recent history, the Army disproportionately attracted African-Americans because it seemed to offer more opportunities than the civilian world, said David Bositis, a senior researcher at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. But as black income and college attendance outside the military "exploded" in the second half of the 1990s, Bositis said, the numbers began reversing.
"It's not that they are having any particular difficulty recruiting African-Americans," Bositis said of the Army. "It's that they have depended on recruiting African-Americans in numbers much higher than their numbers in the population.
"Insofar as that represents increased opportunities (outside of the military) for younger African-Americans, that's a good thing," Bositis said.
But a lack of career opportunities in the civilian world continues to entice many to sign up.
Brandon resident Terrence Bedford, a 25-year-old Florida A&M University criminal justice graduate, searched for a better job for a year after he learned his girlfriend was pregnant in 2003. He wants a better life for his year-old daughter, and his job at a grocery distribution center in Lakeland isn't getting it.
"I don't want to be 40, 50 years old doing the same thing," said Bedford, a Leto High School graduate. "I have a degree. I feel I'm more valuable than working at someone's distribution center. I went out there and looked for a year and didn't have any success."
His father, an Army lieutenant colonel who has spent a year in Iraq, suggested his son join the military. Bedford hesitated, but eventually, he said, his concerns about the invasion of Iraq were outweighed by the benefits he saw in joining the Army: The military will pay off his $15,000 in college loans and give him a $13,000 bonus after basic training. As a college graduate he will go in at a higher rank - one step below sergeant instead of private. There are also health benefits for him and his daughter, as well as education and training he's betting will lead to a career, maybe with the FBI.
Relatives and friends groaned when he signed up in February.
He said his grandmother, with her son already in Iraq, told him she didn't want him to go, and said, "You've got idiots in the White House." She suggested he stay in his current job, save money and start his own business. Still, though she disagrees with his enlistment, she supports his decision, he said.
"I get a lot of flak," Bedford said. "My buddies say, "You're going over there to die."'
He brushes off the comments, staying focused on his goal of comfortably providing for his little girl.
"I'm a strong believer in God and I feel if it's my time to go, it's my time to go, whether I'm here, in Iraq or anywhere," said Beford, who starts basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., in April.
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The Army is not the only military branch experiencing challenges. For the first time in almost a decade, the Marine Corps fell short of its goal in January. But the Marines, along with the Navy and Air Force, say they will meet this year's goals.
Half of the youths in a 2004 survey rated the Army as their last choice for military service. To combat the recent decline, the Army recently increased the Army college fund by $20,000 to $70,000 for a five- or six-year commitment. It also raised bonuses for a three-year enlistment for high-priority jobs to $17,000 from $15,000.
The Army, which is adding hundreds of recruiters, hopes to reverse falling numbers among another group. The percentage of women in recruiting classes also is falling, from 21.6 percent in 2001 to 19.2 percent in 2004.
One factor could be female casualties in Iraq: at least 33 have died there, 21 in hostile action.
Roughly a third of all women in the U.S. military are African-American, who are about 13 percent of all U.S women.
Artina Evans, an 18-year-old African-American, will graduate from Tampa Bay Tech High School in May. During her senior year, Evans said, she considered joining the military to help cover college costs. But she changed her mind.
"I really don't believe in why we're fighting," she said.
--Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Marcus Franklin can be reached at mfranklin@sptimes.com or 727 893-8488.