Richard Whittle
Dallas Morning News
February 2, 2005
WASHINGTON – The regular Army will easily meet its goal of recruiting 80,000 new soldiers this fiscal year, the service's vice chief declared Wednesday, even as the Army Reserve and National Guard face shortfalls.
"We will make our 80,000," Gen. Richard Cody told the House military personnel subcommittee. "We're on a glide path right now."
Gen. Cody acknowledged, however, that the "unpredictable nature of the Iraqi insurgency" had forced the Army to revamp its plans for Iraq several times and created serious manpower and equipment strains.
The Army initially expected to be able to reduce its presence in Iraq to four or five brigades by September 2004, Gen. Cody said, but there are 20 brigades there now – roughly 116,000 soldiers.
The stress on personnel has been greatest for the Army Reserve and Army National Guard, he said, which are providing 40 percent of the troops in Iraq.
The Army Reserve and Army National Guard previously reported that they missed their recruiting goals in the first months of fiscal 2005, which began Oct. 1.
As of Dec. 31, the Army Guard was 20 percent short of its goal of recruiting 11,320 new enlisted members in the first three months of fiscal 2005, falling 2,211 short, according to Pentagon figures.
The Army Reserve fell 527 short of its goal of 4,003 new members in the enlisted ranks.
Lt. Gen. James R. "Ron" Helmly, chief of the Army Reserve, also warned in a memo to the Army chief of staff that leaked in December that his branch was "rapidly degenerating into a broken force" that would be hard-pressed to meet its future requirements.
Gen. Helmly told the committee he had been addressing the "long-range perspective" when he wrote the memo. His goal was to get the Army to "re-look old policies and practices that govern us" and give him more power to beef up the Reserves.
By March, the Army Reserve will have added 800 new recruiters to its previous force of 1,000, and new enlistment bonuses that Congress approved last year are helping, Gen. Helmly said.
Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard, told the panel that despite strains on individuals from frequent mobilizations in recent years, "we have plenty – plenty – left in the reservoir."
Noting that the 350,000-strong Guard takes in 60,000 to 70,000 new members annually, Gen. Blum said the Army Guard should be able to keep 25 percent of its force deployed "indefinitely."
Gen. Cody said the war is also exacting a heavy price on the Army's equipment. Keeping up with the demand has been a challenge because of the changing nature of the war, he added.
"This Army started this war not fully equipped," he said. "So it's taken us time to build."
E-mail rwhittle@dallasnews.com
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Citation:
Richard Whittle, "Army says it'll meet recruitment target: General says, 'We will make our 80,000,' but Guard, Reserves lagging", Dallas Morning News, 02 February 2005.
Original URL:
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/news/world/stories/020305dnintrecruit.956bc.html