Military Update: Weak job market drives middle-class recruiting

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Military Update: Weak job market drives middle-class recruiting
By Tom Philpott, Special to Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, October 24, 2009

Middle-class American youth are entering the military in significant numbers today, drawn by more competitive pay, a battered civilian job market and the buzz surrounding an improved GI Bill education benefit.

The Department of Defense announced last week that for the first time since the draft ended and the all-volunteer force began 36 years ago, every service branch and reserve component met or exceeded its recruiting goals, both in numbers and quality, in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

A closer look at socio-economic data from recent year groups of recruits shows a rising number drawn from middle-income and higher-income families. Dr. Curtis Gilroy, director of accession policy for the Department of Defense, explained it by noting the military remains an institution held in high regard, pay has grown steadily more competitive and violence has fallen sharply in Iraq. This leaves parents, teachers, coaches and other “influencers” more willing today to recommend military service.

Patriotism, too, is an important factor, he said. But the first reason he gives for 2009 being a “banner year” for recruiting is the weak economy.

The recent downturn “resulted in the largest and the swiftest increase in overall unemployment that we’ve ever experienced,” Gilroy said. In March 2007, the overall unemployment rate was 4.4 percent. In just 18 months it spiked to 9.8 percent, creating a boom for military recruiting.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65614