Army Offers Recruiting Bonuses; Reaches Out to High School Dropouts

The goals of recruitment for the military are fallen short as the war in Iraq continues. The reasons for this may seem obvious as most people do not desire to be fatally shot, but that leaves recruiters short. Some senators have suggested bringing back the draft to increase the number of U.S. Soldiers and marines in Iraq. Bringing back the draft has been met with opposition and the branches of the arm service that have used it in the past do not want to do so until it is absolutely necessary. Instead, they are looking at creative ways to increase the number of people looking to enlist.

It may seem like something similar to Amway or any number of multi-level marketing scams, but the National Guard is offering a $2,000 bonus to national guard soldiers who get anyone to sign up for active duty in the army. Recruiting assistants for the reserves and other branches of the service have been tried and the program met with some success. A marine managed to earn $100,000 for a similar program. People who sign up under the Guardsman have to indicate their intent to switch to active duty to qualify for the bonus.

Giving incentives for people already in the services to find new recruits is one way to bolster sagging totals, but the Army also started to look to high school dropouts. The Army will expect recruits to pass through Basic training, but in addition to the other educational benefits provided to members of the armed forces help with passing their GED test. Assuming the dropouts want to take eduction further, armed services members can often take college classes with the government paying 75% of the tuition cost while in the service, or use the GI bill to fund their continued education afterwards.

As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue it is likely even more incentives will be added to help reach the recruiting goals for each of the armed services. The above incentives are in addition to a number of incentives already in place for those who wish to become active duty members. Similar incentives were used during World War II to increase the number of people who volunteered for the armed forces. New and more inventive tactics will likely be seen if the declining number of recruits continues.

Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/28/army.recruiting.ap/index.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-12-recruit-education_N.htm