Military struggles to fill reserve units

? All four of the main military services are having trouble attracting recruits to their reserve forces, though only the Army is falling short in attracting people for its active-duty ranks.

The shortfall is significant because more than ever, the part-timers of the National Guard and Reserve are crucial to the overall military. They provide nearly half of the U.S. force in Iraq and most of the U.S. peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo.

The Army National Guard is 24 percent behind its recruiting target through May, the Army Reserve and the Air National Guard 20 percent each and the Navy Reserve 12 percent, according to Pentagon figures released Friday.

Only the Air Force Reserve is significantly ahead of its goal, at 117 percent of the total it expected through May. The Marine Corps Reserve, which fell short in May, is at 100 percent of its year-to-date goal.

The slippage in Air National Guard and Navy Reserve recruiting has been largely overshadowed by the more serious struggles of the Army’s active and reserve forces.

Changing ways

The Army is expanding several new approaches for attracting recruits.

One is called a short-term enlistment. In this new program, the individual must spend two years as a drilling member of the National Guard or Reserve after the 15 months on active duty, but then he or she can serve the remainder of the eight-year obligation in a number of ways, including joining the Peace Corps or another national service program.

The Army also is considering asking Congress for permission to double the four-year enlistment bonus to $40,000.

In May, the active Army shipped 5,039 recruits to boot camp, 25 percent less than its goal for the month. And for the first eight months of the budget year, which ends Sept. 30, the active Army had 83 percent of the recruits it expected to have.

Bryan Whitman, a senior spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, said the Pentagon did not think it faced a recruiting crisis and remained convinced an all-volunteer force was viable.

“I see no indication of anybody taking under consideration the draft,” Whitman said.

The Army has been hurt by the slowly mounting U.S. casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. More reservists died in May in Iraq than in any other month of the war.

Further underscoring the Army’s difficulties, the active-duty Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force met or exceeded their recruiting goals for May, and are at or above their targets for the year so far.