And many many more like these. Where do they do their research? I looked up the numbers according to the same Department of Defense website they go to I thought and I found this: These are for July, 2005- Army - 109% of its goal Navy - 99 percent (ya I know, 1 %) Marines - 103% Air Force 101%

Ya missed one.

Army Reserves 102%

I think the concern is that they have been consistently missing their (even lowered) goals.

The July numbers are a big improvement over the past several months. Curious, did they lower their goal for July, or did they surpass their original goal?

Hopefully the upswing (and I'm hoping it is an upswing and not a lowered expectation kind of thing) will continue and they will catch up with their annual goals.

I think the concern is that they have been consistently missing their (even lowered) goals.

Actualy Tex they have raised their goals this year by 7,000 over last year to meet the increased Army size mandated by congress. They have increased the goal every year for the last three years. The goals could be higher, but the reelistment rates have been at an almost record high (something the media fails to report). You can't just increase the Army size by 50,000 over five years without raising the recruting goals.

It still means having less new Soldiers than they need coming in. I've also read about the reenlistment rates, and it's very encouraging.

If the military is having a hard time recruiting, perhaps the nay sayers should check out the underlying reasons why.

Now could it be that the economy is booming?  That the military, like all other employers are competing for fewer and fewer workers since the pool is drying up?

Nah!  Cause then that would be to admit the economy is good and not the worst in the last 50 years!

Guess they will never admit the truth.

Well I work with our local recruiters by going to local schools and such and telling the young men and women we talk to how my military experience helped me in my Law Enforcement Career. I asked Capt. Jenny (my local contact) about the numbers and what she told me was that numbers are almost always down in March, April and May and then go back up in June, July and August because high school gets out and college hits summer semesters. So they get more new people enlisting then. Makes sense.

As for the numbers of re-enlistees, I am going to do a little research but I remember a few sites where there was some really good information on that subject and I will post another topic.

As I said I would do here is the retention numbers:

As of the end of March, the Active Army re-enlisted 34,382 Soldiers, 106 percent of its mission for the first two quarters of the fiscal year. The Army was at about 90 percent of mission at this time last year and finished at 107 percent, boding well for the Army’s retention mission this year.

The Army Reserve re-enlisted 8,291 Soldiers, 100 percent of its year-to-date mission, as of the end of March. The Army National Guard re-enlisted 15,689 Soldiers, 100 percent of its year-to-date mission.

The Army is applying additional resources to recruiting and remains cautiously optimistic to achieve the Active Army’s Fiscal Year 2005 mission. Though the Army may not make some monthly goals, efforts remain strong to achieve the recruiting mission of 80,000 new recruits.

Recent enlistment incentives include adding specialties that will receive the maximum $20,000 enlistment bonus for an enlistment of 3-6 years in the Active Army; the initial bonus payment is now $10,000 following completion of initial entry training. The Army also expanded the student loan repayment program to all military occupational specialties. The Army Reserve offers non-prior service recruits up to $10,000 for an enlistment of three or more years and prior service can earn up to $15,000 for a 6-year enlistment.