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Military branches struggle to fill ranks of reserve units

WASHINGTON - All four of the main military services are having trouble attracting recruits to their reserve forces, though only the Army is falling short in attracting people for its active-duty ranks.

The shortfall is significant because, more than ever, the part-timers of the National Guard and Reserve are crucial to the overall military. They provide nearly half of the U.S. force in Iraq and most of the U.S. peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo.

The Army National Guard is 24 percent behind its recruiting target through May; the Army Reserve and the Air National Guard 20 percent each; and the Navy Reserve 12 percent, according to Pentagon figures released Friday.

Only the Air Force Reserve is significantly ahead of its goal, at 117 percent of the total it expected through May. The Marine Corps Reserve, which fell short in May, is at 100 percent of its year-to-date goal.

The slippage in Air National Guard and Navy Reserve recruiting has been largely overshadowed by the more serious struggles of the Army's active and reserve forces.

In May, the active Army shipped 5,039 recruits to boot camp, 25 percent less than its goal for the month. And for the first eight months of the budget year, which ends Sept. 30, the active Army had 83 percent of the recruits it expected to have.

That 17 percent deficit is unlikely to be made up this summer, traditionally the best period for recruiting because new high school graduates sign up.

The Army has been hurt by the slowly mounting U.S. casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, a toll that has contributed to a perception among many young people that the land combat forces are not their best option. More reservists died in Iraq in May than in any other month of the war.

Further underscoring the Army's difficulties, the active-duty Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force met or exceeded their recruiting goals for May, and are at or above their targets for the year so far.

In a statement, the Army said it remained "cautiously optimistic" of meeting its goal of recruiting 80,000 people in the active Army this year. It said shortfalls in the National Guard and Reserve were "a concern to us."

Bryan Whitman, a senior spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, said the Pentagon does not believe it faces a recruiting crisis and remains convinced that an all-volunteer force is viable.

"I see no indication of anybody taking under consideration the draft," Whitman said.

The Army is expanding several new approaches for attracting recruits.

One is called a short-term enlistment. Applicants who sign up under this program incur the standard eight-year military service obligation but are required to spend only 15 months on active duty after completing basic and advanced individual training. Normally the minimum is four years on active duty, followed by four years in the reserves.

In this new program, the individual must spend two years as a drilling member of the National Guard or Reserve after the 15 months on active duty, but then he or she can serve the remainder of the eight-year obligation in a number of ways, including joining the Peace Corps or another national service program. This option was first offered in a limited number of test markets in October 2003 and was expanded nationwide last month.

The Army also is considering asking Congress for permission to double the four-year enlistment bonus to $40,000, according to a spokesman, Lt. Col. Thomas Collins, who said no formal proposal has been made yet.

The Army National Guard in May recruited 4,071 people, or 29 percent less than its goal for the month.

The much smaller Army Reserve did a little better with 2,269 in May, or 18 percent off its goal.

Jack Harrison, a spokesman for the National Guard Bureau, which manages both the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard, said it's too early to conclude that they will fall short of their full-year goals.

Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a Pentagon spokeswoman on Guard and Reserve issues, said May is traditionally a slow month for Air National Guard recruiting. While plenty of people switched from the active Air Force to the Guard in May, the number of recruits without prior military service was smaller than normal, she said.

Also, the Pentagon's newly released figures showed that while the Army is having trouble getting young people to join, it is doing much better at persuading those already in uniform to re-enlist. So far this budget year, which began last Oct. 1, the active-duty Army has met 103 percent of its re-enlistment goal; the Army National Guard is at 103 percent; and the Army Reserve has met 104 percent of its goal, the Pentagon said.

The other services also met their retention goals in May, although the Air Force fell considerably below its target for retaining the mid-career portion of its force.

That is because more people than expected took the Air Force up on its offer to quit - an offer designed to shrink the number of people with certain skills.

WASHINGTON - Many U.S. military training ranges are deteriorating, providing troops a less-effective training experience and in some cases endangering them, says a report from Congress' investigative arm.

The Government Accountability Office says many training ranges have suffered from a lack of maintenance and modernization.

It based its findings primarily on a survey of eight ranges and the military's own studies. The military has 70 major training ranges, including some at sea, the report says.

"Military training ranges are in varying degrees of degradation or lack necessary upgrades to meet current training needs, a condition that, in turn, adversely affects training activities and jeopardizes the safety of the military personnel using them," the GAO report says.

The Defense Department should develop a comprehensive plan to address these deficiencies, the GAO recommends.

Military ranges also need additional funding for maintenance and upgrades, the report says.

[Last modified June 11, 2005, 00:26:12]