Recruitment declines
for isle Guard

The drop in sign-ups reflects a
nationwide trend for the Army

Hawaii Army National Guard recruitment was down 6 percent in the last fiscal year, and recruiters are finding it harder to find new soldiers because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Maj. Chuck Anthony, Hawaii National Guard spokesman, said for the year ending Sept. 30, Army Guard recruiters signed up 283 new soldiers, down from 302 the previous fiscal year.

"On the average," Anthony said, "we try to bring in 75 news soldiers each quarter."

In Washington yesterday, Army Secretary Francis Harvey said internal Army studies predicted that the service would not meet its recruiting goals for this month and next. Those forecasts follow the official release of statistics for February, when the active-duty Army was 27 percent below its recruiting goal of 7,050. That shortfall was the first time since May 2000 that the Army missed a monthly goal, Army officials said.

In the first five months of this federal fiscal year, the Army has met 94 percent of its goal of 29,185 new soldiers in basic training. The Army plans to bring in 80,000 recruits this year -- 3,000 more than last year -- to replace those who retire or do not re-enlist.

The Army Reserve is at 90 percent of its recruiting goal so far, but the National Guard, which is at only 75 percent of its goal for this year to date, is a concern, Harvey said.

Anthony said the Hawaii National Guard does not release monthly or quarterly recruiting figures. However, he acknowledged that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have drawn heavily on the National Guard and the Army Reserve in Hawaii, have made "it a little tougher" for National Guard recruiters.

Peter DeLauzon, spokesman for U.S. Army Recruiting in the Pacific, last night said he did not have figures on Hawaii's enlistment picture.

Lt. Col. Howard Sugai, spokesman for the Pacific Army Reserve, said the Army Reserve's focus has been on retaining the soldiers it has.

"So far, we have exceeded that goal, which was to try to keep at least 78 of our first-term enlistees. We are already at 90," Sugai said.

Recruiters have heard that there have been cases where their job is made tougher because of resistance from parents who are not encouraging their children to enlist, Anthony said.

However, Anthony said he does not see Hawaii Army Guard recruiters shifting their efforts away from their target groups: youths 17 to 22 and prior service members.

"I don't see the recruiting campaign shifting focus from 17 to 22, to over 35," he said.

Despite last week's announcement by the Army that the National Guard and Reserve were raising the maximum age for recruits to 39 from 34 to expand the pool of potential enlistees, Anthony said he does not believe the change will help his recruiters.

"Those in the 35-40 category are already set in their careers," Anthony added.

Currently the Hawaii Army Reserve has more than 600 soldiers serving in Iraq with the 411th Engineer Battalion or with the 100th Battalion, which is assigned to the Hawaii Army National Guard's 29 Brigade Combat Team. Members of the 411th Engineer Battalion were mobilized Jan. 5, 2004, and will be returning home tomorrow after spending a year in Baghdad.

Of the 3,600 National Guard soldiers assigned to the 29th Brigade Combat Team, more than 2,200 are from the islands. They began their year-long assignment in Iraq last month.