Stupid Facts

Ralph Peters points out that there seems to be a lot of silence about recent news concerning Army recruiting:

* Every one of the Army's 10 divisions -- its key combat organizations -- has exceeded its re-enlistment goal for the year to date. Those with the most intense experience in Iraq have the best rates. The 1st Cavalry Division is at 136 percent of its target, the 3rd Infantry Division at 117 percent.

Among separate combat brigades, the figures are even more startling, with the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division at 178 percent of its goal and the 3rd Brigade of the 4th Mech right behind at 174 percent of its re-enlistment target.

This is unprecedented in wartime. Even in World War II, we needed the draft. Where are the headlines?

* What about first-time enlistment rates, since that was the issue last spring? The Army is running at 108 percent of its needs. Guess not every young American despises his or her country and our president.

* The Army Reserve is a tougher sell, given that it takes men and women away from their families and careers on short notice. Well, Reserve recruitment stands at 102 percent of requirements.

* And then there's the Army National Guard. We've been told for two years that the Guard was in free-fall. Really? Guard recruitment and retention comes out to 106 percent of its requirements as of June 30.

Oh, he forgot to mention that one of the reasons the Army was behind its recruiting goals for a while was not because fewer people were signing up, but because the Army raised its recruiting goals. If the Army hits or exceeds its recruiting goals--as it did last year and the year before, when both years had seen increases in the goals--that will mean that in the midst of a war, the least glamorous branch of the military has seen its numbers steadily and voluntarily increase. How about that?

Update: (Sorry for the delay on this, I went to lunch.) There appears to be some disagreement over the recruiting numbers. See here. I think what is happening here is that Peters is listing the recruiting numbers (no one disagrees on retention, which has been consistently stellar) for the last couple of months, which have been well above the objectives, but the overall numbers for the year will be short of the yearly goals because of those four months when the figures came up low. Again, though, keep in mind that the Army raised its recruiting objectives for this year by something like 5,000 troops, to the neighborhood of 72,000. The Army is not recruiting less, it is recruiting more, just not as fast as it would like.

Update 2: OK, I don't know where Peters got his numbers. Here is the latest DOD press release. Unfortunately, the press release does not include any information on the overall goals and how much they have increased over the past few years.