US: The United States Army National Guard and Reserve has had its worst month for recruiting since last summer, as potential recruits fear that they will be sent to Iraq.
The regular army reached its recruiting goal last month but cash bonuses and the promise of free third-level education are failing to persuade sufficient numbers to join the Guard and the Reserve.
National Guard soldiers, who are under the command of state governors during peacetime and have traditionally been used mainly during national disasters and other domestic emergencies, have played an important combat role in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Guard recruited 90 per cent of its goal of 6,530, while the Army Reserve recruited just 83 per cent of its goal of 2,611 for April - the lowest percentages since August and July 2005, respectively.
The Washington Post reported yesterday the Reserve has adopted a policy barring officers from leaving the service if their field is undermanned or they have not been deployed to Iraq, to Afghanistan or for homeland defence missions.
At least 10 Reserve officers have sued the army, saying they should be allowed to leave after completing their mandatory eight years' Reserve service. "I don't think during a time of war you would want to let people go when you have a shortage of people. The reason you don't want to discharge people when you have a critical shortage is twofold: the first is readiness and the second is fiscal. If you need them now and let them go, then you have to train someone to replace them," a Reserve spokesman said.
The active-duty army has set a goal to send 80,000 recruits into basic training in the fiscal year 2006, which ends on September 30th, the same goal it missed by more than 6,600 last year. The army is offering $1,000 enlistment bonuses to high-school graduates to start by September 30th.
