by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Oct 13, 2009
Helped by tough economic times, the US military had a banner year for recruitment, meeting all its goals for the first time since creating an all-volunteer force in 1973, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
High unemployment, which just hit a 26-year-high of 9.8 percent, helped recruiting as well as a multi-billion dollar effort to attract volunteers to serve in uniform, officials said.
“We’re pleased to report that, for the first time since the advent of the all-volunteer force, all of the military components, active and reserve, met their number as well as their quality goals,” Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary for defense for military personnel policy, told reporters.
Carr said the country’s worst economic recession since the 1930s “was a force” in the recruiting results for fiscal year 2009, though not the only factor.
The recruiting success comes at a time when the military is stretched fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with some soldiers serving in four or five successive combat tours.
A total of about 189,000 troops are currently stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The faltering economic outlook meant the Pentagon planned to cut its recruitment budget by 11 percent in fiscal 2010, from a base of about five billion dollars, said Curtis Gilroy, director of accession policy.
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