army recruiting

* the army hit the numbers as they predicted at the start of the month.

" The active duty Army beat its June goal of 5,650 recruits by 507, the Marine Corps exceeded its goal of 2,370 by 30, and the Army Reserve drew 41 more than its goal of 3,610. The Army National Guard missed its goal of 5,032 by 695, the ninth month in a row it's been short, and the Navy Reserve missed its goal of 1,336 by 103.

June was the first month in the past four that the Army hit its goal and, with a total of 47,121 so far in fiscal 2005, it's not on track to hit its target of 80,000 by Sept. 30. It needs to average 11,000 monthly or it will miss its goal

To make that goal now, the service needs almost 33,000 recruits in the next three months. Its initial goal for these months was 23,715: 6,100 recruits in July, 9,250 in August and 8,365 in September." LINK

curiously, the AP of all people lead with a negative spin:

"The Army National Guard, a cornerstone of the U.S. force in Iraq, missed its recruiting goal for at least the ninth straight month in June and is nearly 19,000 soldiers below its authorized strength

The Army Guard was seeking 5,032 new soldiers in June but signed up only 4,337, a 14 percent shortfall, according to statistics released Monday by the Pentagon. It is more than 10,000 soldiers behind its year-to-date goal of almost 45,000 recruits, and has missed its recruiting target during at least 17 of the last 18 months." LINK