National Public Radio (NPR) / SHOW: All Things Considered 8:00 AM EST NPR December 17, 2004
National Guard having trouble meeting its recruitment goals due to the war operations in Iraq and Afghanistan
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
MICHELE NORRIS, host:
And I'm Michele Norris.
Faced with extended deployments and mounting combat deaths in Iraq, the Army National Guard is having trouble finding new recruits. According to the Pentagon, the Guard has missed its recruiting goals by 30 percent the last two months. NPR's Anthony Brooks reports.
ANTHONY BROOKS reporting:
This week's recruitment numbers show how the US military is struggling with the conflict in Iraq. Civilian military planners never anticipated that the occupation would require so many troops for so long. At the Pentagon yesterday, the head of the National Guard Bureau, Lieutenant General H. Stephen Blum, said not only is recruitment down 30 percent in the past eight weeks, but he also needs $20 billion to replace equipment damaged or destroyed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Meanwhile, the challenge facing the Guard is playing out at recruitment centers across the country.
Lieutenant Colonel RICHARD KALEY (Rhode Island National Guard): We're down probably 15 to 18 percent over our yearly averages.
BROOKS: That's Lieutenant Colonel Richard Kaley, who heads up National Guard recruitment in Rhode Island. He says these days, the Guard is a tough sell.
Lt. Col. KALEY: You know, obviously, the military's a dangerous business when bullets are flying. Don't know if there's a way to compete against that. I mean, some people just serve for the benefits, and now that there's a greater risk, they're not willing to commit themselves.
Mr. JOHN PIKE (GlobalSecurity.org): Well, as Gomer Pyle said, `Surprise, surprise, surprise.'
BROOKS: John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org says the recruitment numbers are the latest sign of a peacetime Army struggling to make the transition to a long, drawn-out war.
Mr. PIKE: It is a peacetime military that had been recruiting people on the basis of giving them educational benefits, not on the basis of sending them to Iraq to fight in a war. It's a peacetime military that had been organized to fight a short war. It was really not organized to fight this sort of protracted insurgency that we've found ourselves in. vBROOKS: It's a protracted war that is increasingly dependant upon the National Guard and the Army Reserve, which make up about 40 percent of the 148,000 troops in Iraq. Guard units provide soldiers with particular skills and experience that are in short supply, such as military police and civil affairs officers. A shortage of these units is why the Army has been activating the Individual Ready Reserve, former soldiers who can be recalled in wartime. Paul Reickhoff is a New York National Guard lieutenant and a veteran of the war in Iraq. He heads Operation Truth, which advocates for fellow veterans of the war in Iraq, and he blames the drop in recruitment on bad planning.
Lieutenant PAUL REICKHOFF (New York National Guard): Basically, they underestimated the war. People are talking, and people are understanding now that the National Guard is no longer two weekends in the summer and a weekend a month and a little bit of college money. It's a serious commitment and it's a combat zone. And right now if you join the National Guard Reserves, you're going to be on the front lines, and I think people understand that and it's directly affecting recruiting.
BROOKS: To try to boost recruitment, the National Guard is increasing enlistment bonuses to up to $10,000 for first-time enlistees and $15,000 for soldiers who re-enlist for six years. Reickhoff says that might help a little, but the bigger problem, he says, is a shortage of troops in the regular Army.
Lt. REICKHOFF: And that's why you're calling on such a deep commitment from the National Guard and reserves. It's an issue of supply and demand; we just don't have enough people.
BROOKS: John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org says the Army is taking steps to increase its active combat component, but he says that will take at least a couple of years.
Mr. PIKE: In the meantime, they've had to call on the Guard, they've had to call on the reserve while the active component Army makes the transition to being able to fight a war like the one we're in now indefinitely.
BROOKS: Which for now means long and dangerous deployments for National Guard troops and a challenge for recruiters. Anthony Brooks, NPR News.
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