Gettin' a little drafty

In what could be a troubling sign for the military, the active-duty Army missed its February recruiting goal by more than 27%. It was the first time in almost five years that the Army has failed to meet a monthly target.

[...]

The February shortfall is especially worrisome because it comes as the Army is trying to lure recruits with the largest enlistment bonuses it has ever offered: up to $20,000 to some recruits willing to sign on for four years.

The Pentagon also has been adding thousands of recruiters for the Army and other branches of the military.
  Indy Star article

The Army's wartime recruiting challenge is aggravated by a sharp drop in black enlistments in the last four years, which internal Army and Defense Department polls trace to an unpopular war in Iraq and concerns among blacks with Bush administration policies.

The Army strains to meet recruiting goals in part because black volunteers have fallen 41 percent ---- from 23.5 percent of recruits in fiscal 2000 down steadily to 13.9 percent in the first four months of fiscal 2005.

[...]

Black youth unemployment remains above 10 percent, higher than for Latinos and double that of whites. Blacks also tend to view military pay as more attractive than do other racial groups. In years past, such factors enticed a disproportionate number of black youth to see opportunity in the Army. In some years since the draft ended in 1973, the percentage of blacks among Army volunteers approached 30 percent.

[...]

Another Army-directed poll, called the U.S. Military Image Study, is posted on a Defense Contracting Command Web site, likely by mistake. Based on interviews with 3,236 youth ages 16 to 24, this study says, "Recruiting an all-volunteer Army in times of war is increasingly difficult."
  North County Times article

"Mom, there's this test we're supposed to take tomorrow," my daughter told me one night last year, "but I have a funny feeling about it. Our guidance counselor came in and said that the school would be giving all juniors a special career-aptitude test, to show us where our talents are. It sounded good, but then a military recruiter came in and said that this test, called the ASVAB, could help us choose the best career path.

"He said, 'any personal information will be kept strictly confidential.' I asked if the military would keep our names and numbers, and he just repeated that it's 'confidential.' That was when I knew something was wrong – why make such a big deal about getting our personal information, unless that's the point of the whole thing?"

[...]

Parents, if you want to protect your child from military recruiters and the coming draft, you'd better speak up and speak up now. If you think your child is safe at school, think again – now that Mr. Bush's wars are in full swing, he needs a steady stream of warm bodies for the battlefields. And the easiest warm bodies to get, of course, are the young ones.
  Read 10 Ways to Protect Your Child From the ASVAB...

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