{"id":34446,"date":"2019-09-17T23:18:40","date_gmt":"2019-09-17T23:18:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/09\/17\/student-loan-crisis-not-mideast-wars-helped-army-leaders-exceed-recruiting-goals-this-year\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:04:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:04:51","slug":"student-loan-crisis-not-mideast-wars-helped-army-leaders-exceed-recruiting-goals-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/09\/17\/student-loan-crisis-not-mideast-wars-helped-army-leaders-exceed-recruiting-goals-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Student loan crisis, not Mideast wars, helped Army leaders exceed recruiting goals this year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Army leadership gathered Tuesday to announce that they surpassed their recruiting goal for 2019<\/a>, signing up more than 68,000 active duty soldiers<\/a> before the end of the fiscal year, but the long wars in the Middle East weren\u2019t exactly part of the sales pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on his experience visiting 30 to 40 recruiting stations this year, the eventual outcomes of wars abroad are \u201cnot really part of the discussion\u201d between potential soldiers and their recruiters, Maj. Gen. Frank Muth, head of Army Recruiting Command, told reporters at the Pentagon Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the national crises right now is student loans, so $31,000 is [about] the average,\u201d Muth said. \u201cYou can get out [of the Army] after four years, 100 percent paid for state college anywhere in the United States.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A significant part of the recruiting push has been showing that the Army serves as a pathway to America\u2019s middle class, with several service leaders noting that their children used GI Bill benefits and ROTC scholarships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have three kids serving. A lot of us have kids serving,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said. \u201cAnd the reason is because we see it as a pathway to success.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it stands, Army leaders anticipate exceeding this year\u2019s desired active duty end-strength of 478,000 troops, landing in the range of 481,000 to 483,000 soldiers thanks to solid retention rates. But new soldiers make up the bulk of the gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educational benefits, trade skill credentialing<\/a>, adventure and a way out of a small town are still the big reasons young people want to enlist, Muth said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston cautioned not to fall for the self-centered caricature often depicted of today\u2019s youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis generation, as opposed to other generations, it\u2019s a shift. They want to serve something bigger than themselves,” Grinston said. “It may surprise you a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, the service set its sights on enlisting 80,000 soldiers<\/a>, but adjusted its goal in the middle of the year to about 76,500, only to fall short at roughly 70,000 in the end. This fiscal year\u2019s recruitment push was much more modest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe made our recruiting mission, so we made 68,000,\u201d McConville said. \u201cOur retention mission … we\u2019ve retained a lot more than we thought and our attrition has gone down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service had a retention goal of about 50,000 and managed to retain 51,000 soldiers, Grinston said. \u201cOnce soldiers join the Army, they want to stay in, even when there is a very healthy economy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The low unemployment rate and booming economy make recruiting difficult, especially when compared to past recruiting pushes during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that lined up closer to a major global recession.<\/p>\n\n\n\t