National Guard recruitment on the rise

Jay Walters was laid off from Moyie Springs Mill in Idaho three years ago. The current economic crisis had not yet struck but finding a job in Libby was already difficult.

With two kids and a wife, Walters couldn’t afford to be out of work for long so he joined the Montana Army National Guard. After basic training at Ft. Jackson, S.C., he underwent advanced individual training at Ft. Lee, Va. to become a logistics specialist.

“It was what we needed,” his wife, Tricia Walters, said of his 2006 enlistment. “Eight months of a steady job and pay.”

After training was over, he was unemployed again. Thankfully, Walters took a full-time National Guard job at the armory last March, readying troops for Iraq. He re-enlisted this month while en route to Iraq.

Walters is one of many who contributed to the three-year national upward trend of Army National Guard recruits.

Recruitment numbers sunk to an all-time low in 2005 but have since climbed steadily, according to Barry Gilman, Montana recruiting and retention commander out of Helena.

The National Guard is authorized to employ 6,000 soldiers over its target 352,000, but currently the number is closer to 14,000 over.  

Military recruiters can expect enlistment numbers to continue to rise as economic factors such as unemployment, inflation and the growing cost of college affect people’s decisions, according to Army public affairs specialist Jeff Ross, who works out of Salt Lake City.

Montana National Guard recruitment statistics reflect the national trend, and Gilman believes that 2009 numbers will surpass previous years, based on January and February alone.  

“Over the last three years – going on four – we’ve seen 12-15 year highs,” Gilman said of Montana recruitment statistics. “February will be one of our better months over that time.”

Army enlistments have also increased nationally and locally, according to Ross. Montana – and northwest Montana, in particular – has seen a significant gain in the past year. In addition, Montana generally has the highest per capita of Army enlistments in the United States.

From 2007 to 2008, active duty enlistment increased an average of 18 percent for the whole northwest region of the country, and 24 percent in northwestern Montana.

“That’s a significant enough gain to put an emphasis on,” Ross said. “An average gain from year-to-year could be single digits up to 15 percent.”

Too many enlistments have caused the Army National Guard to elevate its standards.  

“We’ve had to slow down our recruiting because of our strength nationally,” Gilman said. “We’ve raised the bar.”

Last December the National Guard increased the minimum score requirement on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB test, for potential enlisters.

“We’ve increased our standards and moved onto a higher scoring market,” Gilman said, pointing out that Montana’s quality of enlisters is high among other states.

Montana ranks in the top five states in the U.S. for number of enlisters who are high school graduates at 92 percent. Montana is ranked in the top 10 for number of enlisters who are high mental test category scorers.  

The breakdown of those joining the Army and National Guard have not changed significantly, according to Gilman and Ross.

About three out of 10 National Guard enlisters have served in the military before and the other seven have no military experience.

“The 30 percent is looking to come back (to the military) and work toward a retirement pension, health care and other benefits,” Gilman said. “The poor economy has positive effects on recurring numbers.”

Walters was deployed to Iraq a few weeks ago after training for a month at Fort Lewis, Wash. with other northwest Montanans in the 639th Quartermaster Co.

He re-enlisted for six more years with two other soldiers from his Libby unit, Jessie Weinman and Steve Gary. When he returns with his unit next year, he won’t have a job waiting.

“When he gets back from Iraq, he’ll be unemployed, looking for work,” said his wife, Tricia. “He enjoys the military, and if he can stay in that for 20 years, he’ll get a partial retirement from that. He wants to stay in as long as he can.”