Army suspends recruiting for one day to stress ethics

WASHINGTON – The Army suspended recruiting Friday after reported excesses by recruiters trying to make up for a shortfall in new soldiers.

The one-day suspension was to allow commanders to emphasize ethical conduct and “refocus our entire force on who we are as an institution,” said Maj. Gen. Michael Rochelle, chief of Army recruiting, at the Pentagon.

Army officials said the stand-down would affect almost all 7,500 recruiters at 1,700 stations around the United States. Rochelle said the daylong halt could cost the service access to 1,000 potential recruits. Each Army recruiter must enlist two people a month into the service. But the Army is 6,600 recruits behind where it wants to be at this point in the year, leaving questions whether the service will be able to fill every position needed to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Opinion surveys suggest an increasing number of potential recruits and parents are wary of the Army’s pitch while soldiers are dying in Iraq.

Rochelle said one problem has been what the Army calls “influencers” – parents, coaches and others – recommending service less often than they once did. After the Sept. 11 attacks, these influencers were likely to recommend military service 22 percent of the time, he said; now, Army studies show that figure has dropped to 14 percent.

African-Americans are also signing up in lower numbers, Rochelle said, adding he was unsure why.

Rochelle said he was aware of seven investigations into excesses by recruiters, mentioning incidents in Houston and Denver but otherwise not going into detail. Other Army officials said that during the incident in Houston, a recruiter allegedly threatened to have a wavering would-be recruit arrested if he backed out. The recruiter has no such authority.

Officials confirmed a second inquiry in Colorado, pointing to news reports about recruiters who allegedly offered information on fake diplomas and ways to get around drug tests and physical fitness requirements.

Army officials said last week they have probed 480 allegations of impropriety by recruiters since Oct. 1. Some cases are still open, and 91 allegations have been determined to be founded. Eight recruiters have been relieved and 98 have been admonished.

Since 2000, the Army has relieved about 30 to 60 recruiters annually for improprieties, according to officials. These often involve recruiters concealing negative information about a potential recruit from rest of the Army.