BANGOR – The number of people who have signed up for service in the military since the beginning of the Iraq war is up for some branches and stagnant for others, according to recruiting specialists in Maine.

“Before the war we had almost no applicants for almost three weeks,” said Lt. Col. John McKenney, commander of recruiting-retention for the Maine Army National Guard. “After the war started we’ve had an increase in applicants. A lot of the calls are people who really want to serve their country.”

Reasons current applicants gave for joining have changed since the beginning of the war in Iraq.

“Prior to the war, a lot of the kids were coming in for the benefits,” said Bangor Army Recruiting Co. Commander Capt. Greg Turner. “Since the war we’re seeing a patriotic swing and a lot of people are coming in to serve their country.”

Among the people who have applied, many are former soldiers.

“We’ve received an influx of calls from older gentlemen who want to serve their country who are too old to enlist,” said Gunnery Sgt. Julius Mauano, who works out of the Marines Recruiting office in Bangor. “I think the current situation has made the younger persons afraid.”

The Army has seen the same situation at its recruiting offices.

“We are getting a lot of people who have served previously and want to sign up with their old units,” said Turner.

The Maine Army National Guard has increased its numbers since the beginning of the war.

“In the last two weeks we’ve gone from a personnel strength of 2,225 to 2,249 and it’s climbing,” said McKenney. “A lot of that is a reflection of the people coming in who do want to serve their country. Bangor is a very supportive community. We actually do very well in the Bangor area because of the community support.”

For the Navy, many of the calls received at local recruiters are to offer support.

“We’ve had a lot of calls from people who just want to do something, not enlist, but just help the Navy,” said Petty Officer Journalist 1st Class Daniel Day. “We still have people coming in asking to join the Navy and some recruiters have said there has been an influx of patriotism.”

Sgt. Katherine Ebner, Air Force marketing officer for the New England recruiting headquarters, said the number of personnel is unchanged since the start of the war.

“Basically recruitment in the Air Force has remained relatively consistent over the last two years,” she said. “We haven’t seen any increase in qualified applicants. On the average, for those entering active duty, we average 100 per month for New England and we average 14 to 16 from Maine.”

Ebner said situations like 9-11 and the first Gulf War did not affect numbers.

“Generally speaking nothing has been a surge for us,” she said. “There was no data to actually support that more people signed up after 9-11.”