Washington — The active-duty Army hit its recruiting target in July for a second straight month, but the summertime rebound may not be enough to make up for a long-term shortfall, according to figures the Pentagon provided Wednesday.
The Army National Guard, meanwhile, missed its goal again, recruiting only 4,712, or 80 percent, of its July target of new members, spokesman Bryan Whitman said. The Guard has hit its target only once in the past 19 months and remains far from its yearly goals.
The U.S. Army Reserve also fell short of its target, recruiting 2,131 new reservists, 82 percent of its goal, Whitman said. The Reserve also is behind is annual goal.
The Pentagon has blamed the recruiting shortfalls in part on an economy that's providing other opportunities to high school and college graduates. Opinion polls also show young people and parents are turning away from Army service because of the combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Whitman called July a "pretty good month" for active-duty recruiting but said the active-duty Army remains below its year-to-date recruiting goal. So far, 55,207 new recruits have enlisted, 89 percent of its year-to-date target of 62,385.
For July, the Army recruited 8,085 new soldiers, 109 percent of its goal of 7,450.
The Army is trying to enlist 80,000 by the end of September. Officials are not confident they will make up the shortfall by then, although they have made progress during the summer, considered the high season for recruiting as recent high school graduates look for work.
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