U.S.: Recruitment Goals Met, But No Need for Optimism Yet

The U.S. Department of Defense released its July recruiting and retention statistics Aug. 10 for the active military and reserves. Though the statistics show the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force met their recruitment goals for July, this apparent improvement in numbers is not enough to make up for three quarters of declining recruitment for the Army — nor does it compensate for lagging recruitment figures for the Army National Guard and Army Reserves, which carry more than a little weight in the Iraqi and Afghan theaters.