Marines come up short on recruits first time in ten years

[itzamirakul]

www.sfgate.com Return to regular view
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marines come up short on recruits
Service fails to attain monthly quota for first time in a decade
- Eric Schmitt, New York Times
Thursday, February 3, 2005

<snip>
Washington -- For the first time in nearly a decade, the Marine Corps missed its monthly recruiting goal in January in what military officials said was the latest troubling indicator of the Iraq war's impact on the armed services.

The struggles of the Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard to recruit and retain soldiers have received national attention in recent months. But the failure of the Marines, who historically have had thThe Marines missed their January goal of 3,270 recruits by 84 people, or less than 3 percent. They last missed a monthly goal in July 1995, and 1995 was also the last full year in which the corps fell short of its annual recruiting quota, said Maj. Dave Griesmer, a spokesman for the Marine Corps Recruiting Command.

Richard Kohn, a military historian at the University of North Carolina, said, "It's most troubling because the Marines tend to attract people who are the most macho, seek the most danger and are attracted by the service most likely to put them into combat."

Senior Marine personnel officials say that one month is hardly a trend, that the Marine Corps is slightly ahead of pace for the fiscal year beginning last October and that they fully expect to meet their overall goal for the year. But senior officers acknowledge that the drop in January -- and close calls in November and December -- could be linked to the widely publicized risks in Iraq.

e luxury of turning away willing recruits, is a potential problem for the service.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/03/MNGM2B50V61.DTL

or

http://tinyurl.com/453oh


+++++

[chicagojoe]

1. And this is a surprise?

[ultraist]

2. Where are all of those Republicans that voted for Bush?

Why aren't they signing up?

Maybe someone should post that article and the Freeper site and ask them to go enlist and support their President and the war they voted for.

[sarcasmo]

3. They only support the war with cool in style magnets on their car.

The Repukes will not sign up, their leader said the draft would not happen.

[rocktivity]

4. DUH! Killing may be fun, like that general said, but GETTING killed isn't

But I understand the Navy and Air Force are doing well recruitment-wise. Even Randi Rhodes admits that she chose the Air Force because it seemed to offer "the least chance of being shot!"

:headbang:
rocknation