Patriotism, parental doubts affect military recruiting effort

AUGUSTA – An Army recruiter says the war in Iraq has led to a modest increase in the number of people driven by patriotic fervor to join the military.

Offsetting that gain has been a corresponding rise in the number of parents who refuse to let recruiters follow up on interest in the Army indicated by their children during initial contacts, said Sgt. 1st Class Keith Mann, commander of the Army Recruiting Station in Augusta.

“Parents are sitting at home watching CNN and when an Army recruiter calls their child, they don’t want us talking to their kids until this is over,” Mann said.

Overall, said Mann, the gains and losses arising from the televised images of the war tend to balance out.

“I’ve seen positive and negative impacts, but it hasn’t really changed the volume I’ve seen,” he said.

Army records show the Augusta recruiting station signed up 32 new inductees in the three-month period from October through December, the most recent period for which statistics are available.

Recruiters sign up about one person for every eight qualified candidates they interview, and Mann said a recruiter may speak with 80 to 100 young people for every one who heads off to boot camp.

In late February – prior to the start of the war – Army recruiting was up in Augusta, Farmington and Waterville during the previous few months, said David DuBois, chief of advertising and public affairs for the New England Army Recruiting Battalion in Topsham. Mann, a former battle tank commander, said reports by television crews traveling with troops in Iraq can give prospective recruits an idea of what frontline troops do and what they must endure.