WASHINGTON – The military exceeded its recruiting benchmarks for the first time since the start of the all-volunteer force in 1973, a top Defense Department official said Tuesday.
The four armed services combined also exceeded their quality Defense Department benchmarks, with 96 percent of new recruits holding a high school diploma, compared with the goal of 90 percent. And 73 percent had scored at or above the 50th percentile on the Armed Forces Qualification Test, well above the 60 percent benchmark. The recruits totaled 168,968, 3 percentage points above the combined forces’ goal.
Deputy Undersecretary Bill Carr attributed the strong recruiting year to increased recruiting efforts that included more money spent on each recruit. Recruits were given bonuses of $14,000 this year compared with the $12,000 bonus in 2008.
But Maj. Gen. Don Campbell, head of recruiting for the Army, said the main reason for the high level of recruiting was the more than 8,000 personnel assigned to the effort, a slightly higher number than in the previous year. “The most important thing that helps us with success is having the right number of recruiters on the ground,” he said.
The Army, which generally falls below the 90 percent high school graduate benchmark, saw an 11 percentage point increase in recruits with high school diplomas, to 95 percent. For the Air Force and Marine Corp, 99 percent of their recruits were high school graduates. The military forces look for recruits with a high school diploma because they tend to perform better and have higher retention rate than their counterparts, officials said.
Because the military forces exceeded their recruiting goals this year, Carr said, there will be a reduction in recruiting targets for 2010.