As far as I can tell, the reason the Army beat its June quarter recruiting goal is because that goal was lower than for previous months [edit: I originally said "it lowered that goal" but after thinking about it, I don't have any evidence for that, only suspicions].
Here is a blog article on the topic
http://inteldump.powerblogs.com/posts/1121121653.shtml and an excerpt from the blog:
But what the monthly numbers don’t say is that the Army’s June goal was actually the lowest so far this year, despite the fact that this month of high school graduations traditionally marks the start of prime recruiting season. As the graphic from the New York Times’ June 30th reporting shows, the number of Army June accessions, 6,157 would not have met the goal of any month to date this calendar year. And the problem looks even worse when viewed by fiscal year, the military’s actual counting period. To date, the Army has managed to attract 47,121 new soldiers out of a stated requirement for 80,000. With just three months remaining, that means the service must bring in approximately 11,000 men and women each of the next three months, almost twice the June goal.
I don't know if this blog is accurate, but it is the best data I could find in a quickie search.
Whether one is on the left or the right, the recruiting problems at the Army are a real concern. I don't think it is either something to be covered-up and denied, or something to be pleased about.
I have been thinking lately that maybe we should bring back the draft. This is probably a topic for another thread, but here is what I am thinking. Currently it may be easy for some part of the American population to dismiss the casualties in Iraq since the soldiers volunteered for it and the large majority of American families know their kids will never serve anyway. For quite a large part of the population, the casualties are "someone else's problem".
Perhaps a draft would make more Americans pay close attention to how the military is being used, because it will potentially be their own kid in harms' way. I understand the concerns that a draftee Army may be of lower-quality than an all-volunteer force, but perhaps the answer is to select the highest-quality of the draftees for service - to have more of the Harvard-bound kids serving.
Crazy idea? Stupid reasoning? I'd like to hear any thoughts.
Oh, here is another article, from the AP, that gives somewhat more information.
Date Posted: June 30, 2005
WASHINGTON, (AP) -- The Army has exceeded its recruiting goal for June after four months of shortfalls, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.
Still, the service is far behind its annual goal of 80,000 recruits.
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a town-hall meeting of Pentagon personnel that the recruiting picture had improved.
"I will tell you that, for the month of June, United States Army active recruiting is over 100 percent of its goal, which is a turnaround from where they've been in the last several months," he said. "So there's a bit of good news in here, and we'll see how it works out the rest of the year."
Pentagon officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the Army has not formally announced its numbers, said the Army Reserve also met its recruiting goal in June.
The Army's goal for its active-duty force June was 5,650 recruits; so far, more than 6,150 signed up, the officials said, citing preliminary statistics from recruiting stations.
The Army Reserve hoped to sign up 3,610; it has barely exceeded that goal, the officials said.
There were no figures available for the Army National Guard, which is also well behind its annual goal.
The active-duty Army is still 7,800 recruits behind its year-to-date goal. The service hoped to recruit 80,000 into its ranks between Oct. 1, 2004, and this Sept. 30.
The Army also missed its monthly targets in April, March and February. Each month was worse than the one before. In February it fell 27 percent short; in March the gap was 31 percent, and in April it was 42 percent.
In May, the Army fell about 25 percent short of its target of signing up 6,700 recruits. The gap would have been even wider but for the fact that the target was lowered by 1,350. The June target was not lowered, officials said.
The Army Reserve is more than 2,350 behind its year-to-date goal. Reserve forces throughout the military have been missing recruiting goals.
Pentagon officials attributed the increase in recruits to the end of the school year. The summer months are typically when the services draw the most interest. The higher goals in the coming month reflect that.