![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635840684027334468-911jpg.jpg\")
\u201cThere were some other indications, too,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was much easier for services to reach their recruiting goals, and the quality of individuals joining had increased somewhat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 2005 however, all components of the Army, the Air National Guard and the Navy Reserve had missed their recruiting goals, even though each component had reduced the number of enlistments it required, according to the Congressional Budget Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fiscal year 2005, enlisted active duty accessions dropped to 152,160; and 45,859 joined the enlisted reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll the metrics suggest that the 9-11 impact was actually relatively temporary,\u201d Asch said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 2014, just 138,902 enlisted in active duty, and 67,285 in the enlisted reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part of the drop was the military\u2019s own effort to shrink end-strength starting in 2013. Part of it was the continued military operations overseas, repeat deployments and an increase in the number of combat deaths as U.S. forces battled an insurgency in Iraq and then surged against the Taliban in Afghanistan 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 2017, however, those ongoing operations didn\u2019t have as much sway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
None of Cadi Herman\u2019s friends had served; Dominic and Maveric had one friend in the National Guard who was planning to go active duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, tradition and opportunity convinced them, said their mother, Anne Wilson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of family members on my side who\u2019ve served,\u201d and that military service was talked about as the kids grew up, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dominic and Maveric had gone to work for their father in construction immediately after high school. All three kids were varsity athletes at Pavilion High School, in East Bethany, New York, and had an adventurous side. When they did something, it was almost always together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was Cadi who first started to think about joining the military, as her own high school graduation approached. Many of the career opportunities in her upstate New York home town revolved around farming and construction; Cadi Herman wanted more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was the opportunity to travel around a lot, have this experience,\u201d Cadi Herman said of her motivation. She had originally thought she\u2019d become a nurse, but then learned through spending time at a nearby clinic that that profession didn\u2019t suit her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t really sure what I wanted to go to school for,\u201d she said. After that, and the idea of spending a lot of money without direction didn\u2019t make sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilson reached out to their local recruiter, Shaun Negvesky, an aviation structural mechanic first class. He was from a nearby town and Wilson trusted him to shoot straight with her kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ironically, it was 16 years ago that Negvesky left for Navy basic training himself \u2014 three days after the Sept. 11 attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a new recruit, Negvesky had been scheduled to fly to Illinois for basic training, but all the planes were grounded. He boarded a Greyhound bus to get there; some of the other recruits in his class got in their cars and drove all the way from Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Negvesky had decided the military would be a good path for him before Sept. 11, the attacks just \u201dfueled the fire,\u201d he said in a recent interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year Negvesky has 22 recruits he is shipping to either basic training or their Navy \u201dA\u201d schools. Of the 22 recruits, the oldest is 24, one of the few recruits who has a recollection of the attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Negvesky makes a point of bringing up his own Sept. 11 story with each recruit. But of the 22, there\u2019s probably only one or two who are viewing their enlistment with a more firebrand approach of \u201dI\u2019m going to go serve my country,\u201d Negvesky said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rest of the recruits are a lot like he was when he grew up in the same upstate New York town of East Betheny \u2014 they want the opportunities the Navy can provide and the ability to move away and see the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can relate to all those kids,\u201d Negvesky said. \u201dI grew up on those same streets. I don\u2018t sugar coat anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides the travel, Cadi Herman said she was attracted to the career training she\u2019ll get in the Navy, which she hopes will help her figure out what she ultimately wants to pursue in school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cadi Herman talked it over with Negvesky. Then she came home and talked it over with Maveric \u2015 and sold him on the idea of enlisting, too. Then they talked Dominic into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each of the three went to the Military Entrance Processing Station on their own \u2014 but still got ship dates to their \u201cA\u201d School in Pensacola, Florida, within weeks of each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cadi Herman will train to become a cryptologic technician. Maveric Herman \u201cwill do a little bit of everything\u201d as an aircrewman. \u201cI\u2019ll fix the radar, be in the helicopters working with pilots,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dominic Herman will train as an information systems technician and work on the fleet\u2019s networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilson said even though there\u2019s good opportunity in the Navy, the recent collisions of the destroyers Fitzgerald and John S. McCain have deeply reminded her of the risks. But she\u2019s happy that at least in this first stage of training they\u2019ll be together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am quite nervous for their safety,\u201d she said. \u201cBut they are exceptional young people and they will go far.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
9\/11 is no longer one of biggest reasons people expressed interest in joining the military.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":95418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":88,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"4":{"categories":["news","veterans","military-honor","your-air-force","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-air-force"},"5":{"categories":["news","veterans","military-honor","your-army","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-army"},"6":{"categories":["news","veterans","military-honor","your-marine-corps","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-marine-corps"},"7":{"categories":["news","veterans","military-honor","your-navy","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-navy"}}},"categories":[13,15,25,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3465],"class_list":["post-97247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-honor","category-news","category-veterans","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"QTRKN44UZZA5RBYXHGWYYUME5I","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2017\/09\/11\/recruiting-a-generation-with-no-memory-of-september-11th\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n