|
"I
don't think it's a good time. I don't support the government's
efforts here and abroad," said Glover, 36. "There's
other ways you can pay for college. There's other ways
you can get your life together. Joining the Army, the
military, comes at a very high price."
The
message comes as no surprise to the Pentagon. At the
Defense Department, efforts are under way to increase
the size of the Army and Marine Corps so the country
can better wage what the military believes will be a
long battle against terrorism.
"The
global war on terror has taken its toll, no question,"
said Curt Gilroy, the Pentagon's director of accession
policy, in an Associated Press interview.
Marine
Commandant Gen. James T. Conway agreed that the bloodshed
in Iraq -- where more than 3,540 U.S. troops have died
- is the biggest deterrent for prospective recruits.
"The
daily death toll that comes out is, I think, causing
people who are the influencers of young men and women
in America to take a second look," he said. "So
I think that's probably the single most dominant feature."
According
to Pentagon data, there were nearly 51,500 new black
recruits for active duty and reserves in 2001. That
number fell to less than 32,000 in 2006, a 38 percent
decline.
When
only active duty troops are counted, the number of black
recruits went from more than 31,000 in 2002 to about
23,600 in 2006, almost one-quarter fewer.
The
decline is particularly stark for the Army. Blacks represented
about 23 percent of the active Army's enlisted recruits
in 2000, but 12.4 percent in 2006.
The
decline in black recruits overall has been offset partly
by an increase in Hispanic recruits and those who classify
themselves as other races or nationalities.
This
category could include people who consider themselves
Portuguese, or of other European descent that are not
covered by the main categories of white, Asian/Pacific
Islander, American Indian/Alaskan, black or Hispanic.
The
active duty services largely have met recruiting targets
in the past two years, while the Army, Army National
Guard and Air National Guard fell short of their goals
last month.
Sgt.
Terry Wright, an Army recruiter in Tampa, Fla. said
young people in the black community have more education
and job opportunities now than when he joined the service
14 years ago.
"I
go to high schools every day, and for the most part
it strikes me how many of them are serious about going
to college," said Wright, 32.
He
acknowledged recruiters are spending more time with
parents and other adults from whom potential recruits
seek advice. In addition, he said recruiters are speaking
more often to community and ethnic groups to encourage
military service.
According
to Conway, the Marine commandant, Marine recruiters
"used to spend four hours with the young recruit
and four hours with those people that we would call
the influencers: the parents, the pastors, the coaches,
the teachers." Now, he said, they spend four hours
with recruits and 14 hours with influencers.
Gilroy,
the Pentagon official, said the improving economy is
giving potential recruits more opportunities for better
paying jobs outside the military.
But
he said the growing dissatisfaction with the war among
black political and community leaders, as well as parents
and teachers, is a major factor, too.
"The
influencers of these youth have a larger effect on African-Americans,"
Gilroy said. "Some have argued that, because of
the makeup of African-American families and the relatively
more significant roles (the families) play, moms have
a greater influence on their families. And we know that
moms, in general, do not support the war."
Citing
high-profile black leaders such as Jesse Jackson and
Al Sharpton, Gilroy said, "We hear greater criticism
of this administration's policies and greater concerns
about the effects of the war."
He
said it is up to the country's leaders, particularly
members of Congress who have served in the military
to "talk about the nobility of service."
With
detailed, color-coded graphs, the military can chart
the erosion in support for the war among the adults
who surround recruits of all ethnicities.
A
green line denoting the percentage of grandparents likely
to recommend military service shows the steepest drop
- from a high of 56 percent in mid-2004 to 34 percent
last fall. Support is lowest among mothers. At the start
of the war, 36 percent of moms would recommend military
service; by last fall, it was 25 percent.
Sgt.
Carlos Alvarez, a recruiting station commander in Tampa,
Fla., said many minorities have strong family ties and
winning over parents, grandparents and other relatives
is critical when talking to potential recruits.
"If
you don't have a good relationship with the parents,
you're not going to go anywhere," he said. "The
kid might want to do it, but it's all about mom and
dad."
Alvarez
said it is not just high school students who turn to
their parents for approval. Potential recruits in their
late 20s will tell him, "I need to speak to my
mom."
Conway
said Marine recruiters need to "pump up the volume
a little bit in terms of their recruiting efforts."
The
military services, meanwhile, have created Internet
sites that offer videos, downloads, interest tests and
special pages for parents.
"You
Made Them Strong. We'll Make Them Army Strong,"
says the headline on the Army's Web site for parents.
It includes details on salaries, benefits, bonuses,
education and training as well as stories about how
a recruit made her decision to join and how one soldier
deployed to war.
The
Navy, Air Force and Marine recruiting sites offer similar
information, often also in Spanish. Also available are
personal stories and videos of service members.
"I've
tasked our recruiters with ensuring that our minority
percentages stay strong," Conway said. "We
just want to make sure that we continue to look like
America in the Marine Corps."
At
the same time, the military is opening the door to many
recruits it has not welcomed in the past. That includes
people who are a bit older; who score lower on aptitude
tests; and who have medical conditions such as asthma
or attention deficit disorders that can be controlled
better now with medicine.
The
Army, for example, increased its age limit for recruits
from 35 to 42.
But
the key, Gilroy said, is to continue to shore up recruiting
budgets, particularly for the Army and Marine Corps,
who are bearing the brunt of the service on the wars'
front lines.
"Recruiting
is at the heart of the volunteer force," said Gilroy.
"If we don't get recruiting right, nothing else
matters."
Associated
Press writer Natasha Metzler contributed to this report.
|
Email
This Article To A Friend
