Army apologizes for sending soldiers ‘last-minute’ recruiting orders

"Throughout the week, noncommissioned officers across the Army have received notices through their branch managers and other officials that the service needs more recruiting NCOs — and it needs them fast.

According to requisition emails posted to social media channels like Army Reddit, the Army is seeking volunteers to attend recruiting school as soon as Nov. 6, and has waived a host of standing qualifications in order to boost attendance. But other users reported receiving notifications for involuntary orders directing them to attend the course at Fort Knox, Kentucky."

"After public outcry about the move and instruction from Gen. Randy George, the service’s chief of staff, the Army’s top personnel officer, Lt. Gen. Doug Stitt, spoke with reporters Wednesday and apologized “to the soldiers and the families that received this last-minute notification” and told reporters “that mistake is mine.”

"According to Stitt, the sudden need emerged when the Army discovered it faced a recruiter shortfall due to “errors” in its forecasted recruiter strength — the three-star claimed the unspecified forecasting failures “have been fixed.” He declined to link the shortfall to Recruiting Command’s ongoing purge of non-performing recruiters, but rather attributed it to a multitude of factors including “an uptick in no-shows” at the Army Recruiting College."