Re-uppin' for the bennies?

The Army is reporting some pretty impressive retention numbers, given that there's a shooting war going on...or so you'd think.

According to the AP, "As of March 31 - halfway through the Army's fiscal year - 28,406 soldiers had signed on for another tour of duty, topping the six-month goal of 28,377. The Army's goal is to re-enlist 56,100 soldiers by the end of September."

I'm not sure, actually, that the numbers are very unusual, or other than one might expect. First, the military planners are loathe to set goals they can't exceed, let alone meet, and retaining 56,100 out of the entire Army doesn't seem all that challenging. The career NCO and officer corps should pretty much take care of it.

The concern, I think, is what the retention for Reservists and Guard members who have been called up for unexpectedly long and hazardous mobilizations is likely to be, and the purely anecdotal evidence I've seen so far suggests it's going to be lousy. Since we can't maintain the very limited kind of presence (limited in terms relative to what's really needed for the announced mission, at least) without significant callups from the reserves, any dilution there is going to mean a call for a larger regular Army, and I'm not sure the recruiters are getting a sufficient response these days.

That's why, I suspect, we're hearing the gentle beat of the draft drums lately, regardless of the ability of the Army to re-up Captains and Staff Sargeants. There's still a need for PFCs and Spec 4s...

It's a nice time to be 4-A (military obligation complete).