RECRUITING HARD TIMES

Repeatedly sending soldiers overseas, and keeping them there for extended periods, is hurting military recruiting and retention. Although Congress hoped to help this problem by approving 30,000 new slots in the military due to concerns that U.S. forces were stretched too thin by lengthy deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is hard to find people to fill them. In the long term, however, a larger active military will reduce reliance on the National Guard and Reserves, units that are finding it especially difficult to find new recruits.

The Army missed its recruiting goal for February by 27 percent. For the year, Army recruiting is off by 6 percent. The Army Reserves are 10 percent below the number of recruits it had expected to sign up and the National Guard is off by 25 percent.

To expand its pool of possible enlistees, the Army announced earlier this month that it had raised the maximum age for recruits from 34 to 39 for the National Guard and Reserves units.

The situation is not as dire in Maine, according to Lt. Col. John Goulet, the recruiting coordinator for the Maine National Guard. Although the guard is not where it wants to be in terms of recruitment, he said, the number of people signing up is increasing. He credits big bonuses, such as $20,000 in student loan repayments, with encouraging people to join the guard.

The war in Iraq is a big reason that recruiting is difficult, Col. Goulet says. After a suicide bomb attack on a mess hall killed 22 soldiers, two of them from Maine, recruiting dropped off substantially. The National Guard has tried to make it clear to potential recruits that they will very likely be deployed overseas during their service. However, the strain of being away from their family and job causes many to rethink their commitment to the military.

Sen. Susan Collins, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is also concerned about deployments, especially when they occur in rapid succession, which has been the case during the Iraq conflict. The 94th Military Police Company, an Army Reserve unit with Maine battalions, was deployed overseas for two and a half out of four years.

“Repeated deployments that are sometimes extended beyond the originally scheduled tour length are placing a heavy strain on our troops. The Department of Defense must organize itself more efficiently so it might find a way to decrease the number of repeated deployments,” Sen. Collins said.

She also suggested that improving health insurance for guard members and reservists would be a powerful incentive for recruitment and retention. Easing the burden on families would also help.

The Iraq war makes it clear that the U.S. military needs to be enlarged to reduce reliance on part-time soldiers in the guard and reserve. In the meantime, providing support and predictability to soldiers and their families will help.