Why is the Army the only branch of the military failing to meet its May 2015 recruiting goals?

2015-08-01T14:57:15-04:00

http://www.armytimes.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/30/army-recruiting/30900555/
Americans want to be challenged to be more than they might otherwise be. The same holds true for the complex motivations for why people join the US Military. I think the US Army should be promising and challenging potential recruits that they will have an opportunity to see if they have what it takes to graduate from Army Basic training and earn the right to put on their uniform collar the US symbol in gold, and the right to proudly wear the same Uniform worn by some of the greatest Americans the country has ever produced. People like Audie Murphy and his story should be front and center in Army recruiting. Here is a little guy (5'5") with a huge heart and the combat courage to match, who was rejected by the other armed services when he tried to enlist. He went on to become the most decorated US Soldier in Army History. The stone that was rejected by others should be the corner stone upon which to build a New US Army. The Army should copy the crucible from the Marines, and instead of the EGA (Eagle Globe and Anchor- is the official emblem and insignia of the United States Marine Corps.), Army graduates of basic Training get handed the small "US" symbol of gold that is the National symbol for the Greatest Country the world has ever seen. This should be done with the same awe and reverence as the EGA Marine ceremony following the successful completion of the crucible during Marine Boot Camp. Every Army graduate of basic training should feel ten feet tall when they march across the grinder. Stop promising potential recruits all the things the Army is going to give them, and start asking recruits what they are willing to give the country in Service? "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country!" John F. Kennedy's name is not accidentally on the Special Forces school in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It is there because he helped rebuild the special forces, and as President he authorized their wearing of the distinctive "Green Beret" when the Army Brass tried to keep SF from wearing their Green Berets, "This was reversed on September 25 1961 by Department of the Army Message 578636, which designated the green beret as the exclusive headdress of the Army Special Forces.", and he helped infused an Idealism and Pride into SF's Mission Purpose and training and its Motto: "De oppresso liber" To Liberate the Oppressed!" This sense of Idealism is as alive and well today as it was in 1952 when Special Forces and their Green Berets were formally recognized. Meaning:
United States Army tradition

It is United States Army tradition that this phrase in Latin is considered to mean "to free from oppression" or "to liberate the oppressed", in English.[1]
Actual translation

A literal translation of the phrase de oppresso liber would be "from (being) an oppressed man, (to being) a free one".
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy authorized them for use exclusively by the U.S. Special Forces. Preparing for an 12 October visit to the Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the President sent word to the Center's commander, Colonel William P. Yarborough, for all Special Forces soldiers to wear green berets as part of the event. The President felt that since they had a special mission, Special Forces should have something to set them apart from the rest. In 1962, he called the green beret "a symbol of excellence, a badge of courage, a mark of distinction in the fight for freedom".[31]

Forrest Lindley, a writer for the newspaper Stars and Stripes who served with Special Forces in Vietnam said of Kennedy's authorization: "It was President Kennedy who was responsible for the rebuilding of the Special Forces and giving us back our Green Beret. People were sneaking around wearing [them] when conventional forces weren't in the area and it was sort of a cat and mouse game. Then Kennedy authorized the Green Beret as a mark of distinction, everybody had to scramble around to find berets that were really green. We were bringing them down from Canada. Some were handmade, with the dye coming out in the rain".[35]

This could be the entire Army's Idealistic Mission (Liberating the Oppressed") these days as we see the oppression and real slavery and murder and genocide of ISIS and other Islamic Fundamentalist terrorists. It is also seen in the way Putin and the Russians are behaving in Eastern Europe and the Ukraine. And it is the US Army that will be asked to step up to the challenge to confront and defeat these new enemies of freedom and liberty. The Army should be recruiting with the Idealism that is equal to some of its highest ideals and its greatest victories such as the Liberation of Europe from the Nazis and the Philippines form Japan.

I think the the Army should be recruiting and advertising on what it means to graduate from Army basic training and earn the right to wear the same uniform that people like Audie Murphy wore, or more recently S/Sgt Giunta wore, or that People like a certain 7th Cav Lt. Col. wore, No not Custer, but the victorious Lt. Col Harold "Hal" Moore, Battle of the La Drang Valley, Republic of Vietnam, 18 Nov 1965.

I also think the US Army should consider bringing back a "Class A" uniform similar to the Army Uniforms of WWII.
U.S. Army Dress Uniform ("Class A")

The uniform consists of an Olive Drab (OD-51) peaked cap with a russet leather visor, white linen spread-collared shirt with a black worsted wool tie, Olive Drab wool trousers, an olive-drab (OD-51) wool four-button tunic with leather belt, and russet-brown leather Type I (leather-soled) service shoes. By 1941-1942, the white linen shirt and black tie were replaced by a khaki tropical worsted shirt, or, at wearer's discretion, a dark olive drab gabardine shirt, drab gabardine shirt or khaki poplin shirt. The black tie was replaced with a khaki tie made of mohair, tropical worsted or other khaki material without sheen or pattern. I would update all of the above with modern materials and fabrics where appropriate and necessary.
The Sharpness of the Army Uniforms should symbolically mirror the Esprit de Corps, the pride, and morale, of the Men and Women who wear them daily. The Army Uniform should be one of the best recruiting tools the Army has! No soldier should ever be wearing a Uniform representing the United States that is not just as sharp in appearance and presentation as that of the proudest Marine in his Dress Blues or his Service Alpha green Uniform. The "Puke green" uniform of the past Army should be what is is, a bad memory. Today and tomorrow's Army Uniform should be second to none, and should incorporate historical examples, such as the Eisenhower jacket where appropriate and as the seasons and Garrison Environment allow.

I am worried about how the US Army is failing to instill the same Pride and Esprit de Corps, in its Basic training Graduates that they are unique and special in earning the title of US Soldier, in a way that should be similar to the Pride that every Marine Boot Camp Grad experiences with their graduation from Boot camp, the Crucible, and Earning the Title of Marine:
One of the saddest things I ever heard came from a Soldier in 2008 that I represented in his Military Justice Case (he went UA after failing to graduate from SFAS Course-SF Schools at Fort Bragg , N.C., His morale went to hell after he failed to complete the initial SF assessment course) who told me that graduating from Basic Training in the Army did not make him feel special to earn the title of Soldier! I do not understand as a Former Marine Officer how the US Army does not instill a similar mystique (that the Marine Corps does with the Crucible and Boot camp graduation and earning the Title of Marine) to earning the Title of Soldier and Warrior in the US Army after toughing it out through Basic training. My step-father's Army Soldier stories of Basic Training and his 20 mile humps were part of the reasons I chose to volunteer for the Marine Corps as an 18 year old kid (I took the Oath of Office at 18 my PEBD was in Jan 1983), and I shipped off to Marine OCS (PLC Juniors) as an 18 year old kid and a college freshman in June of 1983. My step-father, a Vietnam Era Draftee, told me about the guys in his BCT Vietnam Era Class who would cry and quit on these humps, and he would tell me you don't want to be one of these wussies. Of his BCT class EVERYONE went to Vietnam except for my step-father and two other college grads who were held back for OCS. Without thinking too hard, I can think of half a dozen battles and engagements in US History where individual soldiers of the US Army and their Unit Cohesion brought unbelievable credit upon their Service and country and themselves with their courage and initiative and their tactical excellence- The Army was with the Marines in the Chosin Reservoir Korean War Battle, where they smashed ten Chinese Divisions encircling them to make it to the coast and extraction, I can never get enough of the stories of "Those Damn Engineers" who held off the Waffen SS during the Battle of the Bulge (“The Damned Engineers” is the history of the 291st Engineer Combat Battalion during the Battle of the Bulge. This humble unit and their leaders were the biggest thorn in the side of the vaunted Kampfgrouppe Peiper. If it was not for the actions of this unit and how they fought with the weapons they had, used their skills, and acted decisively, General Peiper’s offense would have been much more successful. This is a history of American heroes in action at a critical time and a short history of heroic deems so often unsung. ) In the seminal book on the Battle of the Bulge (Snow and Steel-the Battle of the Bulge 1944-45 By Peter Caddick-Adams) the Introduction of the book starts of by telling the story of the Battle for the Hotton Bridge, on December 21st, 1944, by an initial scratch force of approximately a squad and a half of US Army Engineers, from the 51st Engineer Combat battalion, and a squad of armored engineers from the 3rd Armored Division armed with a 37 MM Anti Tank Gun,,from the , a stray tank from the 7th Armored Division, 2 40mm Bofors Anti Aircraft Guns manned by men from the 440th AAA Battalion. None of these men or units had fought together before, but under the leadership of Captain Preston C. Hodges, the Engineer Co. B Company Commander (who had been the CO of B 51st Engineers for two years), these men and their Leader, Captain Hodges, understood the value of their Bridge and were determined to hold the Hotton Bridge, "at all hazards." They successfully held the bridge until relieved in one of the most heroic and little known actions of all of WWII against the best tanks and troops the Nazis could throw at them during the Battle for the Bulge. Capt Hodges and the men whom he lead, acted without orders for the most part, and exercised the highest degree of initiative and courage in the face of overwhelming enemy forces. The fact that the US Army could produce soldiers, some of whom only had basic training combat training-the cooks and clerks who fought there in Hotton, Belgium) who could act together with excellent small unit leadership is a testament to Army training during WWII and the Esprit de Corps of the men of these disparate Army units. The Battling Bastards of Bastogne, the cooks and bakers and the 101st Airborne, whose Acting Commanding General (McAuliffe), when asked to surrender their encircled division told off the Nazis with the most famous one word reply in History, "Nuts!" The Heroism of the US Army in its fighting retreat in the Philippines while facing overwhelming forces of the Japanese Army, and the later Heroic March of the Bataan Death March, The Final Actions of my Mother's father and Earl O Brake (DFC posthumously), who died where they fought, in their company's strong point, armed with BARS and grenades, repelling a Dawn Japanese Banzai Attack on March 14th, 1945 -they died so others might live in their infantry company. (http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=6498), the Incredible Story of US Army Courage "We Were Soldiers Once… And Young" is a 1992 book by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and war journalist Joseph L. Galloway about the Vietnam War. It focuses on the role of the First and Second Battalions of the 7th Cavalry Regiment in the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, the United States' first large-unit battle of the Vietnam War; previous engagements involved small units and patrols (squad, platoon, and company sized units). Later made into a movie of the same name by Mel Gibson. A more recent US Army Heroic Example is the 15 months an Army infantry Company spent in the Korengal Valley in often daily contact with the enemy, as immortalized in the film Restrepo, Second Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. Army in the Korangal Valley. A 173rd Soldier S/Sgt Giunta received the Medal of Honor for his Actions while fighting in the Korengal Valley. "That 15 months in the Korengal Valley, it was hell on Earth," Sgt. Perry remembered." ( http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-staff-sgt-giunta-earned-the-medal-of-honor/). Forty-two American service men died fighting in the Korangal and hundreds were wounded, primarily between 2006 and 2009. Many Afghan soldiers died there as well. The valley has been dubbed "The Valley of Death" by American forces.[4] I remember watching on live TV Staff Sgt. Giunta receiving his Medal of Honor at the White House Ceremony in Nov 2010. I can't believe it has been five years since then. I also remember reading somewhere that the 15 month tour of duty and the documented engagements, days in contact with the enemy, hostile fire received and returned, was not seen by the US Army anytime since the Vietnam War. That almost daily hostile contact with the enemy, and the incredibly, impossible terrain in the Korengal Valley in which to take clear, and hold terrain, or to combat patrol or operate effectively in the Area of Operations, made the Korengal Valley one of the US Army's most Heroic engagements. The Heroism exhibited by Battle Company, 2/503, 173rd Airborne Brigade is also one of the best documented Battle Histories with the film Restrepo, a 60 minutes Documentary , numerous Books and Newspaper Articles, and thousands of photos and film clips of combat. I could also recall the valor of the US Army in WWI with the Lost Battalion and Lt.Col. Whittlesey heroic (and successful) defense of his Battalion when cut off and surrounded by Enemy forces, who repeatedly rejected calls by the enemy to surrender, and how his men repelled the enemy's repeated attacks on his position, until they were finally located by aerial observation and were reinforced and extracted. Of the over 500 soldiers who entered the Argonne Forest, only 194 walked out unscathed. The rest were killed, missing, captured, or wounded. Major Charles White Whittlesey, Captain George G. McMurtry, and Captain Nelson M. Holderman received the Medal of Honor for their valiant actions. The Lost Battalion is the name given to nine companies of the United States 77th Division, roughly 554 men, isolated by German forces during World War I after an American attack in the Argonne Forest in October 1918. It was also made into one of the best war movies I have ever seen, "The Lost Battalion" starring Rick Schroeder.

I would have been so proud to graduate from Army Basic training and wear the Uniform that my grandfather and step-father wore during two of this nation's most significant Wars (WWII and Vietnam) and the same Uniform that was worn by the men whose bravery I have just described above. There is no title prouder than that of "Soldier and Warrior, US Army, United States of America." If the Army is not instilling this basic fact and Enormous Pride into every graduate of US Army Basic Training, the Army is doing something fundamentally wrong with the way it recruits and makes and mints a US Soldier!

Response by SGM Steve Wettstein made Aug 1 at 2015 3:00 PM

2015-08-01T15:00:52-04:00

Capt Lance Gallardo Sir, IMO it is because we are not taking everything that walks in the door anymore. There are also few more rules that keep people from enlisting. Also, potential recruits could also be wary of the draw down that is being forced upon the Army.

Response by SMSgt Tony Barnes made Aug 1 at 2015 3:12 PM

2015-08-01T15:12:35-04:00

You have to have a great product to attract people. I work on Fort Carson and am appalled at the way younger soldiers are often treated. I know many soldiers with children who tell them to join any other branch but the Army. That is something where the Army really needs to do some introspection.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Aug 1 at 2015 3:12 PM

2015-08-01T15:12:55-04:00

Here's an article that mentions a few possible reasons.

http://www.rt.com/usa/158992-military-80-percent-rejection-rate/

Military turns down 80 percent of applicants as armed forces shrink

Gone are the post-9/11 recruiting days where the US military would take just about anyone who walked through its doors, issuing waivers for misconduct and health issues. Now 80 percent of applicants are turned away.

Response by SGT Nel Despradel made Aug 1 at 2015 3:23 PM

2015-08-01T15:23:04-04:00

Things are changing Sir. At least in WLC.
After I finished basic and assigned to the 42nd Division, half rainbow patch. I was very proud to see a PBS documentary about it. That instilled in me a lot of pride to wear the uniform and patch that cost others before me their lives in heroics situations (at war).
I'd think that the Army training let the soldiers find for themselves and explore their own history. And as You pointed out some historical facts that made us proud of the men and women that wore the same uniform as I am now.
Thanks for Your post Sir.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 1 at 2015 3:24 PM

2015-08-01T15:24:19-04:00

In this politically correct world gone mad, it has turned into a numbers game. BCT companies are not washing out the undesirables and holding prospective Soldiers to the published standard. This becomes apparent during training evolutions, if not as early as new Soldier inprocessing.

Prior to BCT, the recruiting pool is created by a civilian marketing companies idea of what the Army is. "Be all that you can be" was been watered down to an inaccurate "an Army of one" to the currently vague and bland "Army Strong." The stories which you regaled us with above are not being told. America is hungry for heroes. The fact that movies like American Sniper and the others you mentioned above are so successful despite the pansy world we now live in are proof.

The fact is, all service members are heroes to one degree or another. We all represent the 1-2% that are willing to stand on the wall, to be the sheepdog. It's time to make that the message, it's time to bring the pride back.

Response by LTC Bink Romanick made Aug 1 at 2015 4:03 PM

2015-08-01T16:03:56-04:00

Capt Lance Gallardo the army is probably the hardest service to recruit for. The navy and air force have better living conditions and the marines have better uniforms and the cache of toughness. Christy puller and all that.

I once heard it put this way. The Navy is old money, the Air Force is new money and the Army is the proletariat.

Response by CSM Michael Poll made Aug 1 at 2015 4:24 PM

2015-08-01T16:24:07-04:00

I guess from my perspective, this is only that, Why would I join an organization that has no guarantee of longevity? I keep seeing downsizing and Soldiers being forced out when they would love to continue service. I know the vision is those that are not progressing are the ones (reportedly) that are being forced out, but I see many good Soldiers being QMP'ed as well... once again, just a thought...

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Aug 1 at 2015 6:53 PM

2015-08-01T18:53:33-04:00

The title is about the shortcomings of Army recruiting then it digresses into a drivel. He tried to paint a picture but it's not the picture that supports recruiting. Could it be the Marines need half of the Army's recruits, the Air Force and Navy are considered physically safe branches?

Here are some numbers for some objective analysis:

-- Army: 33,382 accessions, 86.5 percent of its goal of 38,604;

-- Navy: 22,049 accessions, 100.0 percent of its goal of 22,049;

-- Marine Corps: 16,185 accessions, 100.1 percent of its goal of 16,171; and

-- Air Force: 15,265 accessions, 100.0 percent of its goal of 15,265.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 2 at 2015 12:38 AM

2015-08-02T00:38:54-04:00

I've been trying to reenlist for a year now. I can't go back (directly) to my old MOS (no matter how short handed it is) because I've been out to long. (Even if it is listed in the prior service rules).
The only options are 18x and 35p. In addition the DLAB standard is higher for prior service than IET. (107 v 105).
So the army would rather pay for a linguist that's going to re-class the first second he can than just send him directly through his old MOS AIT as a refresher.
I don't get it.

Response by LTC Bink Romanick made Aug 2 at 2015 10:38 AM

2015-08-02T10:38:19-04:00

Capt Lance Gallardo as to your question about uniforms the Army is too large a service to spend what the USMC spends on its clothing bag.

The pool of qualified recruits is limited based on the fact that one in 3 possible recruits are physically, morally ( criminal record) and educationally qualified for enlistment. If you reduce that number by the recruits that go to the USN and USAF and USMC. The numbers available are greatly reduced.

Good night Chesty Puller wherever you are.

Response by SFC Stephen King made Aug 2 at 2015 10:41 AM

2015-08-02T10:41:59-04:00

Advertising is key to production. The Army needs to pay more attention to quality of the message presented in its commercials. Quality of a product will assist the overall mission.

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Aug 2 at 2015 10:48 AM

2015-08-02T10:48:18-04:00

We've been the quantity over quality branch for decades. We don't have a niche. If you want to be a brainiac, you join the Air Force. Travel the world drinking and making pier babies? Join the Navy. Want to be a hard charging spartan warrior kicking in doors? You join the Marines. All the other branches full or your ASVAB was too low? You join the Army.

If we want better recruits we need to carve out a niche and OWN IT.

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Aug 2 at 2015 12:40 PM

2015-08-02T12:40:23-04:00

I'm sure many people still remember "an Army of one..."

The Army is in many ways perceived as the least glamorous of the services. Most people think of basic grunts when they think Army, never mind how technically advanced the Army may be, and never mind the amazing opportunities you who used to wear green have... Maybe it's the new Class A's and the lack of the green? Who knows...

Response by SGT Hector Rojas, AIGA, SHA made Aug 2 at 2015 12:54 PM

2015-08-02T12:54:41-04:00

Because it is in the news that DoD is cutting funds.
Its in the news that the Army will cut 40K more troops.
It is in the news that benefits are being slashed. Retirement system is being changed or at least "studied".

But mainly because well, in all honesty, I see lots of great looking and enticing ads for the Air Force, the US Navy and the Marines.

Army ads? Not so much.

Response by SSG Edward Tilton made Jan 20 at 2018 3:56 PM

2018-01-20T15:56:03-05:00

When I was a Recruiter, I kept that picture in my window. The Army gets off target trying to target certain catagories and loses sight of the trooper has to want to be a soldier

Response by Sgt Dan Catlin made Apr 11 at 2019 6:45 AM

2019-04-11T06:45:48-04:00

One reason might be that the Army just flat out needs more men! Almost 200,000 more than the Navy or the Air Force, and the Marines aren't even contestants in the numbers game. Worse yet the Coast Guard looks like a small town fire dept next to the Army's numbers! So it's not surprising that the Army would be the first to have problems reaching recruitment goals.

Response by SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM made Aug 4 at 2019 7:53 PM

2019-08-04T19:53:26-04:00

It might because of the smaller applicant pools, and those not wanting to serve!