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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Army recruiting on track, but Guard is struggling

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The Army is close to most of its goals in both recruiting soldiers and keeping them in uniform, the service’s top general said Monday.

Only the Army National Guard is falling significantly short of its goals, with recruitment reaching just 88 percent of the target, Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army’s chief of staff, told reporters at the Pentagon. The Guard is exceeding its retention targets, Schoomaker said, but by less than 1 percent.

Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard, said the shortfall was expected because the Guard set its goal “deliberately high” in anticipation of the departure of many existing Guard members because of the strain of being deployed overseas.

That hasn’t happened, the generals said. Troops that have been sent overseas are staying in the service at a higher rate than their counterparts who remained in the United States, Blum said.

“They see their country under attack, and they are stepping forward to defend it,” said Lt. Gen. Roger Schultz, director of the Army Guard.

The regular Army and the Army Reserve are both close to or exceeding their recruiting and retention goals, Schoomaker said.

Blum said military planners are trying to keep at home at least half the Guard members of every state at any given time. That is to leave a contingent for governors to call on during disasters.

In four states – Vermont, New Hampshire, Idaho and Montana – the military has called up more than half of the Army Guard members, Blum said.