Patriotism Helps Army Recruitment

The sluggish economy, snazzy new ads and a surge in patriotism after Sept. 11 helped the Army reach its recruiting goals early this year, officers said Thursday.

That’s all true for recruit Allen Hawkins Jr., who says he joined to pay off college debts, impressed by the new ads and inspired by the war on terrorism.

An Army officer swore Hawkins in as a private 1st class during a ceremony in the Pentagon courtyard to tout the Army’s recruiting success.

“I hope I can go in and make my country proud,” said Hawkins, 26, of Spartanburg, S.C.

The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps also say they’re meeting their enlistment goals after a recruiting slump in the late 1990s.

That slump prompted all the services to increase the number of recruiters and boost advertising. The Army ditched its old “Be All You Can Be” slogan last year in favor of “An Army of One.”

“To the youth market, it became a stale slogan. We wanted something new, something exciting,” said Gen. John Keene, the Army’s vice chief of staff.

The new slogan is meant to convey that the Army values each soldier’s individual contributions, said Lt. Gen. Dennis Cavin, who oversees Army recruiting.

The economic slump also has had an effect. Cavin said the Army estimates that about 3,000 of its recruits joined because of the economy.

Hawkins was the last active-duty soldier sworn in to meet the Army’s goal of 79,500 new troops for the year ending Sept. 30. The Army already has recruited 19,000 people toward next year’s goal.

The Navy and Air Force have commitments for enough recruits to meet their goal, though not all the recruits have entered basic training. The Navy’s goal is 46,500 and the Air Force’s target is 37,283.

The Marine Corps’ goal is 38,642, and the service had signed up 31,523 by July 31.

The Army is keeping high standards for recruits, Cavin said. More than 22% of this year’s recruits have at least one semester of college, and more than 4,000 have an associate or bachelor’s degree, he said.

“The Army is not the last choice, it is the first choice for many Americans,” Cavin said.