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A Novel
by Tawni O'DellThis article relates to Sister Mine
After several bad years, all branches of the military met their 2006 & 2007 recruitment targets (figures below are 2007 stats rounded to the nearest 1000):
This was a relief for the military, as the ongoing war in Iraq has made recruitment increasingly difficult. It is rare to try to fill wartime ranks purely with volunteers. The Spanish-American War, Mexican-American War and Gulf War are the only conflicts since 1775 that did not rely in part on conscripts.
Targets were met by improving incentives and loosening standards:
The Pentagon now has 8,000 recruiters who are instructed to talk up the excitement and personal growth potential recruits will experience in the military, and downplay the 4,000+ Americans killed and 30,000+ wounded to date in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Nationwide, counties with the highest recruiting rates have incomes about 30% lower than average for their respective states. About 44% of recruits are from the South.
Popular recruiting grounds include high schools, shopping malls and the NASCAR racing circuit where the Army's interactive game, that allows potential recruits to fire a simulated machine gun at virtual insurgents, is a popular recruitment tool.
A growing portion of the Pentagon's $665 million advertising budget for recruitment is spent targeting parents with the message that military service instills confidence and direction in children.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, high schools are required to provide military recruiters with their students' names and contact information, unless students sign an opt-out form. National organizations such as the PTA complain that recruiters have been contacting 16- and 17-year-olds without parents' knowledge, and that tactics such as sending free t-shirts, Frisbees and video games, exploit kids' naiveté.
Filed under Society and Politics
This "beyond the book article" relates to Sister Mine. It originally ran in April 2007 and has been updated for the May 2008 paperback edition. Go to magazine.
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