Army spends big on recruits

Wednesday, July 24, 2002 | 9:25 a.m.

Recruitment is a big business for the U.S. Army, as the government spends more than $15,000 per recruit to attract the best and brightest.

It's money well spent, according to Lt. Gen. Dennis D. Cavin, director of the Army Accessions Command, which oversees all Army recruitment and training.

"It's a volunteer army," Cavin said in his Bally's hotel room before speaking at a military conference Tuesday. "In order to have a volunteer army you have to provide for their well-being, their family's well-being. If you want to attract quality people you have to reward them."

Recruiters also have to convince young people that the Army provides opportunities. To do that the service spends $200 million in advertising each year, has changed its pitch to appeal to a new generation and is trying a new program to allow potential recruits to see their choices earlier.

The efforts seem to be working. Not only does the Army expect to make its annual quota well before the end of this fiscal year, it is attracting more qualified recruits, Cavin said.

"People often think the Army is the last choice, but it's not," Cavin said. "It's a dynamic opportunity to grow."

Las Vegas is a test area for the Army's newest approach: a program called "Point of Sale." The program allows a recruiter to takes enlistees' entrance scores and show them exactly what jobs they are qualified for and what placements are available.

"Point of Sale is the future of Army recruiting," said Sgt. 1st Class Randy Wombles, station commander of the Green Valley Army Recruiting Office.

Before, enlistees didn't find out what their options were until they flew to Salt Lake City to have their physical.

"It allows us and them to really look at all the options," Wombles said. "Before they had 15 maybe 20 minutes to make a life decision, whereas now we can take an hour or so to really discuss the possibilities and then let them think it over."

The Army's website and the latest advertising campaign, focusing on the "Army of One," have gone a long way to helping the Army make its national quota of 108,000 active and reserve recruits this year, officials said. Cavin expects the Army to hit that mark by mid-August -- the earliest in years.

Las Vegas regularly recruits 564 active-duty soldiers and 94 reservists each year.

The "Army of One" campaign replaced the longstanding "Be All You Can Be" slogan last year after the service surveyed 11,000 young people between 17 and 21 years old. The new slogan was designed to appeal to the sense of individualism in today's teens and twentysomethings.

"Kids today want to be valued for who they are and for what contribution they can make to an organization," Cavin said. "Many viewed the Army as this monstrosity that would treat them like a number."

He has also seen a rise in the quality of people enlisting -- with higher entrance scores and more entering with some college education. More than 21 percent of the current class of soldiers has as least one semester of college, Cavin said.

"Many more kids who have many other opportunities are choosing to serve their country," Cavin said. "Today's young men and women recognize that it is more than just me in life. They are recognizing the importance of making a contribution."

The advertisements have had more of an effect on recruitment than the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, Cavin said, although everyone in boot camp today enlisted after that date. He said the proportion of people enlisting after the attacks didn't match the swell in patriotism across the country, nor the response the Army saw during earlier military campaigns, such as Desert Storm.