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Saturday, February 7, 2004
Recruiters say war hasn´t caused patriotic about-face
By ANDREW LYONS | News-Journal Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH — Army National Guard recruiters aren’t struggling to find willing soldiers, even though Iraq remains deadly territory.
The Florida National Guard, in fact, has seen slightly higher recruiting numbers over the past three months compared with the same time last year.
Maj. Bob Quinney said 206 people were recruited to the guard last month, compared with 169 in January 2003. In December, 183 were recruited, compared with 180 the year before, and 174 were signed in November, compared with 153 in 2002.
“I fear that when you see the Jessica Lynch movie that parents will think that could be their son or daughter,” said Quinney, in charge of recruiting and retention for the Florida Guard. But “we’re holding our own. We really are consistent.”
Relatively sophisticated attacks inside Iraq have pushed the U.S. death toll past the 500 mark, and soldiers are preparing themselves to be rotated in and out of the country for three more years. Yet military recruits say young men and women haven’t been deterred from signing.
“The reason why young men and women join the Army is money for college, job skills and patriotism,” said Sgt. Anthony Booze with the Army’s recruiting office in Daytona Beach. “The conflict doesn’t have anything to do with them joining. If they’re ready, they’re ready.”
One new Florida Guard recruit, Pvt. Dominic Fields, said the ongoing conflicts don’t frighten him.
The Seabreeze High School student said he signed up for the guard in November to follow in his stepfather’s footsteps and to earn free tuition for college. His stepfather is on active duty with the Florida Guard, now stationed in St. Augustine.
“I knew I could go to school, still have a part-time job, and still be in the military,” he said. As for war: “I just figured if it happens, it happens.”
While the Florida Guard’s recruit numbers have held steady, Sgt. First Class Barry Tressler said he has seen several guardsmen in Volusia County signing back up after long periods of inactivity.
“Some as many as 10 years out,” Tressler said of those returning to the guard.
The U.S. Army’s top general told Congress last week he is planning to rotate a large force in and out of Iraq until 2006. Of the approximately 105,000 troops going to Iraq this winter and spring to replace the 130,000 who have been there since the start of the war, about 80,000 are Army soldiers.
Historically, war hasn’t been the overwhelming reason for a person’s decision to serve one’s country, experts and experienced recruiters say. While people avoided enlistment during the Vietnam era, the past quarter-century has shown the economy, military pay and the country’s mood influences recruiting.
One top recruiter said patriotism should be the overriding factor.
Last year, Florida Guard recruiter Sgt. Nicole Torres exceeded her recruiting goals by 147 percent and enlisted more soldiers than any of her fellow recruiters. She said her talent was her honesty — never failing to mention that her husband was deployed last year with more than 1,500 infantry soldiers to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“A lot of people had a misconception about the Army National Guard that they were not deployable,” the St. Augustine recruiter said. “What people need to remember is this is a life change; it’s not like buying a car or building a home.
And after all the possibilities are covered, Torres said true soldiers will still sign.
“They have to have some ounce of patriotism for them to make that decision.”
Currently about 66,500 Army Reserve members are on active duty, both at home and in Iraq and elsewhere abroad. That is about one-third of the entire Army Reserve of 205,000 people.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.