Recruiting Revival: Dismal Economy Boosts Enlistment

For first time since 1973, the military has met all its recruitment goals.

ByABC News
October 19, 2009, 7:34 PM

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2009— -- With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan straining the military, the dismal economy has been a boon for its recruiters.

Military recruiter Sgt. 1st Class Llorito Todd, from Roland Heights, Calif., can attest to that.

"Nowadays everyone is coming to us, asking us about information about joining the Army," he said.

For the first time since the military became an all-volunteer force in 1973, all the services have met their goals for both numbers and quality of recruits in the 12 months ending Sept. 30.

"As unemployment goes up, then each employer who is hiring gains some advantage," said Bill Carr, the deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, national unemployment is at 9.8 percent -- a 26-year high.

But for those in the Pentagon's prime recruiting age, it's much worse. Unemployment for 18- and 19-year-olds is 24.2 percent. For men of that age, it's even higher -- 28.3 percent.

Those might be bad numbers from an economic standpoint, but they translated into big gains for the military.

The Army had 70,045 new recruits, making 108 percent of its 65,000 goal. The Navy surpassed its goal of 35,500 recruits by 27, the Marine Corps beat its goal of 31,400 by 13, and the Air Force just topped its goal of 31,980 by three.

Besides the pure numbers, the recruiting class is also the best in years in terms of test scores. This year 96 percent of the recruits for the active-duty force had a high school diploma, the highest number since 1996.

On the military's math-verbal aptitude test, 73 percent scored above average, the best showing since 2004.