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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 18 september 2019

APNewsBreak: Army revamps recruiting, hits enlistment goal

WASHINGTON (AP) — A goal to help meet expec-
year after failing to meet tations. Instead, they said
its enlistment goal for the they plan to gradually grow
first time in 13 years, the the Army from 476,000
U.S. Army is now on track to members last year to about
meet a lower 2019 target 490,000 by 2024, seeking
after revamping its recruit- more high-quality recruits
ment effort. who will be less likely to fail
Army leaders tell The Associ- or get injured in early train-
ated Press that they expect ing.
to sign up more than 68,000 McConville and Army act-
active duty soldiers for the ing Secretary Ryan McCar-
fiscal year that ends Sept. thy said that it took time to
30, as the largest branch of institute changes in the re-
the U.S. military increasingly cruiting over the past year
turns to social media and but that the shifts have
other new online methods started to show promise.
to find potential recruits. Already recruiters have an
Last year, the Army brought additional 13,000 recruits
in about 70,000 new active under contract to join the
duty recruits, well below service in the fiscal year
the 76,500 it needed amid that begins Oct. 1, giving
low unemployment and them a jump on next year's In this June 4, 2017, file photo. nNew Army recruits take part in a swearing in ceremony before a
tough competition from totals. baseball game between the San Diego Padres and the Colorado Rockies in San Diego.
higher-paying civilian com- They said the recruit- Associated Press
panies. Meeting the lower ing goal for next year will
2019 figure is considered be between 68,000 and up when recruiters brought while limiting waivers and tion for next year is going to
a victory for a service that 69,000. in more youth with histories raising standards, the Army be the in the virtual recruit-
has struggled to compete After a massive buildup to of misconduct, drugs and increased the number of ing station."
for young people who are fight the wars in Iraq and crime, which led to disci- recruiters and targeted 22 For example, he said, a
less familiar with the military Afghanistan, the Army pline and behavior prob- cities that had historically traditionally top recruit-
and that was criticized last in recent years slashed lems in the units. been challenging areas. ing event like the Houston
year for using more bad more than 50,000 soldiers Now Army leaders say they And, Muth said, "we have rodeo would generate
conduct waivers and other as those conflicts scaled have reduced waivers and changed from the industri- about 350 leads for recruit-
waivers to meet enlistment back. Now, to meet military improved the quality of re- al age into the digital age ers to follow up. At the Salt
goals. demands, the Army needs cruits. in how we're recruiting." Lake City gaming tourna-
"We're smoothing out to grow again. Maj. Gen. Frank Muth, Historically, the top meth- ment last July recruiters got
the Army's growth," Gen. But in the effort to enlist head of Army Recruiting od of getting recruits has about 1,400 leads over one
James McConville, chief more soldiers, Army leaders Command, said there were been in person. But young weekend, he said.
of staff of the Army, said in faced criticism, including 3.4% fewer waivers this year people are now more inter- Two years ago, McCarthy
an AP interview. "What we from Congress, over the ex- and that includes the low- ested in connecting online said, the Army spent half
want to do is have mod- panded use of waivers for est percentage of conduct than face to face.q of its marketing budget on
est growth over the next recruits with previous mari- waivers in two decades. television ads and half on
couple of years. And we're juana use, bad conduct He said that about 12% of As a result, Muth said, "the digital ads. Now, he said,
trying to make sure that the and health problems. the recruits in 2019 needed numbers point to the fact 90 percent is on digital.
end strength we have is The use of waivers trig- a waiver to get in, and less that for the first time the "We're embracing the digi-
high quality." gered worries that the ser- than 9 percent this year paradigm shift is about to tal age," he said, adding
Army leaders dispute the vice would repeat mistakes needed one. occur and our No. 1 pros- that officials are learning as
idea that they lowered the made during the war build- To meet the recruiting goal pecting and lead genera- they go along. q