Gulf war affects Armed Forces recruiting

By Kelly Blaine

The recent start of the ground war in Kuwait has had varied effects on recruiting in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Army recruit numbers have increased significantly, said Sgt. Robert Harper of the Army Reserve Recruiting Station in DeKalb.

Along with the routine calls that the Army recruiting office makes in times of peace, there have been an equal number of incoming calls from men and women expressing an interest in joining, Harper said.

“During the first 10 days of fighting, we received a lot of calls,” said Chief Journalist Cynthia Jackson of the Navy recruiting public affairs office in Chicago. Jackson said she attributes this increase to the newness of the conflict.

Interest in the Navy in January ranged from volunteers to people who wanted to join the service, she said.

“Because there is a change, the surge of interest is temporary,” Jackson said. “During the last two weeks, things have leveled off.”

While there was a recognizable increase in Naval recruit numbers at the outset, the start of the ground war hasn’t brought significant new recruits, Jackson said.

The Navy does not have a great number of active troops involved in the ground war other than its medical units, said Naval Reserve Recruiter Commander Rex Settlemoir, who is responsible for Detachment Two in Illinois.

“The recession, the job market and the high quality standards that we have also affect recruiting,” along with the amount of fighting, Jackson said.

President Bush announced that 360,000 reservists could be used in the Gulf conflict. Of that number, 200,000 already were activated, Settlemoir said.

Jackson said that Naval members who are serving full-time are always overseas, and that it is the reservists who are being called up to go over now.

According to statistics released by an Illinois Naval petty officer, 81 officers and 317 enlisted members had been activated from Illinois by Feb. 21. Most of these have remained in the states, although a specific breakdown of the number sent overseas is not available, the officer said.

“The American fighting forces have proven to be highly-trained and capable,” Settlemoir said. He said he feels “we will finish the situation in as short a time as possible.”

Army statistics concerning the number of men and women who have been activated were not available, Harper said. Army orders state that no opinions about the ground war can be given out.