thus affects each service’s annual recruiting mission. The economy plays a role here, as well. The services have programs to
help retain the numbers they need. The Navy has found retention can take more than monetary incentives and has piloted a career intermis- sion program, which each year permits 20 officers and 20 enlisted members to leave active duty for the Individual Ready Reserve for up to three years. Another Navy initiative is its virtual command program that will allow a small first group of offi- cers to maintain geographic stability while continuing with their careers. According to Vice Adm. Mark E.
Ferguson III, chief of Naval Person- nel, in recent congressional testimo- ny, “The Navy believes innovative, flexible career paths will provide in- creased retention by complementing monetary incentives.” Medical recruiting has chal-
lenged the Air Force, with leaders saying it is tough to compete with the lucrative civilian market. Now, the Air Force is taking a “grow our own” approach in which it offers larger numbers of medical scholar- ships in student-based markets. The Post-9/11 GI Bill also is a valu-
able tool — for both recruiters and servicemembers. With transferabil- ity options to a spouse and children
Mission: Readiness
Mission: Readiness is a nonprof- it that is investing in the next generation of American children. It works in partnership with a large brain trust of high-pow- ered military retirees. Together, they hope to help more young people meet military service re- quirements, assisting recruiters from the opposite end. A 2005 Army Center for
Accessions Research study showed 75 percent of 17- to 24-year-old Americans do not meet the minimum require- ments for military service be- cause they have not graduated from high school, have engaged in criminal activity, or are physi- cally or mentally unfit. Not only does this shocking
reality threaten generations of America’s youth, but this situation also poses a menace to the military services, says Amy Dawson Taggart, Mission: Readi- ness national director. Aside from just numbers, a world-class military needs top-shelf recruits.
9 6 MI L I T A R Y O F F I C E R S E P T EMB E R 2 0 1 0 “This large-scale failure with
our youth endangers our na- tion’s security,” she says. More than 120 retired military
leaders from both the flag of- ficer and senior enlisted ranks make up the Mission: Readiness advisory board. Add two former DoD civilians — former Navy Secretary John H. Dalton and former Army Undersecretary Joe R. Reeder — and the adviso- ry board has even greater reach. Boasting decades of com-
bined experience, these mem- bers have taken action. Their work already has led to na- tional legislation such as laws supporting childhood nutrition, says Taggart. They also have spent countless hours speaking around the country, meeting with local and national leaders, and publishing their urgent message in myriad publica- tions. With this tour de force, Mission: Readiness might prove an agent for progress for generations to come.
contingent on agreeing to serve ad- ditional time in the military, the bill is having a positive effect on retention.
Recessions and recruiting: strange bedfellows Among other factors, Gilroy con- siders the effect of economic conditions on recruiting. “[U.S.] unemployment in March 2009 was 8.5 percent. It was just 5 percent [in 2008],” says Gilroy. “We have found that an increase in the unemploy- ment rate by 10 percent will corre- spond to an enlistment increase of about 5 percent for the Army.” By Gilroy’s estimate, the all-
volunteer force has navigated four economic recessions — in 1979, 1989, and 2000 and the current slow- down. “The forces have not handled any of the recessionary periods well,” he says, implying opportuni- ties squandered. “In the past, we be- came complacent and took success for granted. We cut too much too quickly, leaving ourselves at risk.” Today, as the recruiting market becomes less challenging and re- cruiting goals for some services are reduced, Gilroy explains, there will be some budget realignments or reductions to recruiting programs. “The challenge for the services will be to avoid budget cuts that will be too large, in the wrong places, and taken too quickly.” Upswings and downturns are of
little import to Gaither. He cannot pinpoint a change on the streets for better or worse. “For me here in Washington County, the economy has stayed the same. I still have to recruit the same quality to meet Marine Corps requirements,” he says. “If they’re qualified and want to be Marines, I’m putting them in.”
Bonus time A recently published RAND Corp. study, “Cash Incentives and Military Enlistment, Attrition, and Reenlist-
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