The United States Army is going to miss its recruiting goal for the first year since 1999 according to new numbers released by the Pentagon. Despite exceeding its goal for August 2005 and recruiting the highest number of soldiers since July of 2001 will fall short of its goal for fiscal 2005 which ends October 1. Other branches of the activity duty military will meet their annual goals.
Recruiting amongst reserve forces, many of whom have been used to fight the war in Iraq, has fallen off at a steeper rate. With the exception of the Marine Corps and Air Force Reserve, all reserve forces are missing their recruiting goals by at least 15%. The Army National Guard and Army Reserve have faced particular difficulty, with the Guard 22% behind its goal and the Reserve 81% behind.
