Those familiar old Army recruiting posters showing Uncle Sam pointing his finger and saying he “needs you” need repainting ? to show him holding up a fistful of dollars as an inducement.
With the war in Iraq taking its toll on recruitment of new enlistees for the all-volunteer Army, he is now ante-ing up bonuses of as much as $15,000 for a two-year sign-up and $25,000 for three years.
The bonuses are being offered to meet the fiscal-year target for the end of this month of 80,000 new troops, part of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates? goal of increasing Army strength by 65,000 to 547,000 in five years, according to The Associated Press.
The latest wrinkle in bonus lure to young Americans is what is called the “quick ship” inducement ? $20,000 payout to enlistees who agree to drop whatever they?ve been doing and ship out for basic training within 30 days. It?s a commentary on the urgency with which the Army is addressing its challenge to meet the annual target at a time an unpopular war is being waged by a severely stretched military establishment.
While the circumstance is not entirely tied to the U.S. involvements in Iraq and Afghanistan, no less an authority than Gen. David Petraeus, the architect of the Bush administration?s troop surge, istalking openly of the stress it is placing on the U.S. military.
In recent days leading up to his much-anticipated progress report on the surge, Petraeus has acknowledged that 30,000 troop buildup cannot be continued indefinitely, and that it has taxed the endurance of the soldiers and national guardsmen involved, and their families at home.
A particular problem in this uncommon war that has fallen heavily on reservists who are not full-time soldiers is the disruptive aspect of their service not only in their own lives, but also in those left behind, often including new children.
Unlike World War II for example, when participants enlisted or were called for the duration of the war, no matter how long it lasted, the volunteer army including the guardsmen and reservists have limits on their tours in the combat zone. On one hand they cling to their civilian existence, but on the other they are subject to repeated callbacks that inject constant uncertainty for themselves and their disrupted families.
A measure of the challenge for the Army in meeting the annual manpower target is the fact that its staff of trained recruiters is being raised from 8,000 to as many as 10,000 in the effort to spur enlistment, at a time many parents and other relatives are trying to talk their loved ones out of signing up, with the Iraq war again a factor.
The obvious solution would be reinstatement of the military draft, which met the manpower needs of the nation in World Wars I and II, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York has long advocated it as a more equitable way of sharing the burden in wartime, but so far there has been little support in Congress for it.
In a war in which most Americans other than those in uniform and their families are not being asked to make much of a sacrifice, a draft would be out of step with the business-as-usual atmosphere that prevails.
Believers in the all-voluntary Army argue it has produced a higher quality of soldiers, though as the Iraq War has dragged on, the Army has lowered certain educational and medical standards for enlistment.
The absence of a draft has been one way of dampening down public protest against the war. Its existence during the Vietnam years probably did as much or more than any other factor in the anti-war protests of the time in drawing millions of draft-age youths in the streets, clamoring for an end of the American participation.
Instead, more than 30 years later, Uncle Sam instead of relying on the stick of conscription holds out the carrot bonuses of up to $25,000 to buy the military service of his sons and daughters in a war most of America today doesn?t believe in.
Jules Witcover, a Baltimore Examiner columnist, is syndicated by Tribune Media Services. He has covered national affairs from Washington for more than 50 years and is the author of 11 books, and co-author of five others, on American politics and history.
