U.S. Army Waiting List Near Record Levels With High Unemployment, GI Bill

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2010— -- Young Americans looking to join the armed forces may have to wait to serve.

The combination of lower recruitment target numbers, a weak economy and the implementation of the GI bill has made waiting lists, officially known as the Delayed Entry Pool, longer than they have been in recent years.

The Marine Corps, which has traditionally had a smaller recruiting base, has fulfilled more than 65 percent of its target for fiscal year 2011. The Army entered the new recruiting year in October having fulfilled 50 percent, or half its targeting goals for next year.

The number is a near record for the Army. The last time in recent decades the waiting list was so long was 1996, when the Delayed Entry Pool was at 42.9 percent at the start of the fiscal year.

In recent years, the Army lowered standards to boost recruitment, including allowing those with low test scores and even criminal records to join. But after years of such incentives and hefty bonuses, recruitment interest has not only surged but the quality of Americans who have expressed interest has improved considerably.

For the first time since fiscal year 1992, nearly all of the Army recruits -- 99.9 percent -- in fiscal year 2010 were high school graduates.

"It's a great time for us. We're very pleased with the way things are going. The characteristics of the people we're recruiting are near all time highs," Maj. Douglas Smith, spokesman for the Army recruitment command at Ft. Knox, Ky., told ABC News.

The higher number of high school graduates "was a good sign and we have been able to restrict the number of waivers we give for conduct, so that's been an improvement as well," he said.

A number of factors are behind the surging numbers. The military has cut back recruitment goals across the board. The Army target, for example, for the fiscal year 2011 is 67,000, lower than 74,500 in 2010 and well below the average recruitment goal of 80,000 between 2005 and 2008.

The economy also plays a crucial part. Unemployment remains relatively high at 9.8 percent, the same level as last year, and among 18-to-24-year-olds -- the Pentagon's prime recruiting age -- it's even higher.

Officials admit that unemployment has led more volunteers to visit recruitment centers, but caution that it's only part of the equation.