April 8th, 2005 9:38 pm
Even in president's hometown, recruiters can't reach goals
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2155Emily Baker / Midland Reporter-Telegram
U.S. Army recruiter Sgt. Tomas Barrios flashed his debonair smile at hundreds of Lee High School students during a lunch hour last week. He greeted each student who walked by with a gentle salutation and a promotional key ring.
Hardly a single student smiled back.
A couple of students stopped dead in their tracks and hopped a few steps to change their course away from the table covered by an immaculately clean black tablecloth proclaiming the familiar "An Army of One" slogan.
Barrios' uniform - the camouflage of a soldier, the mirror-like shiny black boots, the impeccable appearance - was something they felt compelled to avoid.
To the average young person, recruiters said, camouflage equals war, which equals death. That notion has kicked at the shins of the Army and Army National Guard that so far have successfully manned, along with the other military branches, the largest conflict the all-volunteer force has undergone.
Without an end to involvement in Iraq in sight, can the United States complete the efforts there with strictly an all-volunteer military?
Even in President Bush's hometown, where decals announce support for troops on more bumpers than not and where a potent majority is behind the war, the thought of being on the front lines in the Middle East transforms a mind frame of support and patriotism to apprehension and fear, recruiters said.
A few female students acknowledged Barrios with a playful wink or smile, including one girl who has a history of persistently flirting with military recruiters. Only 13 total dared to go near the Army table.
In their hour at the school, Barrios and fellow recruiter Esther Cole, a retired Army master sergeant, discovered two students who were interested in learning more. Neither had followed up by press time.
Both students seemed to have no trouble talking to Cole, who is a civilian and doesn't wear a uniform. Her Army jacket and cap were not as threatening as Barrios' camouflage. Looks of disgust and whispering while pointing fingers towards the one in camouflage proved that.
"There is an idea that if you get within three feet of a recruiter, a net drops on your head, and you are taken to basic training right away," said Capt. John Wrann, commander of Lubbock Company, Dallas Recruiting Battalion, 5th Recruiting Brigade. Wrann is to whom the Midland recruiting station personnel report.
"Young people seem to think if you get close to them, the 'recruiter snatchers' take you away never to be seen again," he said.
A tough sell
Sgt. 1st Class Michael Burton, commander of Midland's Army recruiting station, has endured flu-like symptoms roughly every-other week for the last six months.
With hardly time to sleep, let alone see a doctor, Burton's job is to train and motivate the five recruiters in the Midland station while he encourages and guides new recruits on their road to basic training.
He and the recruiters work 12 hours a day, six days a week, as do their counterparts in the Texas National Guard recruiting office. That doesn't count the several days a week they engage in physical fitness training with new recruits to help prepare them for basic training or the late-night promotions at ball games.
One out of every 50 interested potential recruits actually enlists, estimated Sgt. 1st Class Curtis Byrd, one of Midland's Texas National Guard recruiters. Before the war on terror began, one out of 10 enlisted, he said.
During a recent visit to an Odessa high school, Staff Sgt. Rodolfo Guerrero, a Texas National Guard recruiter, talked to 408 students about the education, training and financial bonuses offered by the National Guard. Of those, 80 asked for further information. One enlisted, he said.
The National Guard recruiters need to bring in another 35 future soldiers by the end of September to meet their goal for the year. If they don't, they could lose their jobs, Guerrero said.
The Army is eight active duty recruits and 12 Army Reserve recruits behind their to-date goal.
There have never been higher financial incentives offered by the Army, Army Reserve or National Guard. Appreciation for the military has hardly been more vocal. Soldiers have rarely been more popular.
So, why aren't people enlisting?
"That's the question of the day," Burton said. "That's like the flavor of ice cream. Kids these days tell us they want to be part of a team, and they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Is that just lip service? I don't know. You think they'd be joining."
Patriotic until duty calls?
Famous American proverb: "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."
John F. Kennedy entered those words into Americana in the years before the Vietnam War. They may not mean as much now, recruiters said.
"The patriotism isn't there," Byrd said. "When we were growing up, we were taught to stand proud and that country came first. The kids now are taught, 'What's in it for me?'"
The recruiters all said they are approached by strangers daily who offer a handshake of appreciation for serving. Those who are young, or those with young family members, typically immediately proclaim why they won't join the military as soon as they discover they are thanking a recruiter, they said.
Burton said he was thanked by a woman one day who told him she was delighted with how the Army is completing its tasks. He asked if she knew anyone who'd be interested in joining. She said a brisk "no" and hurried away, Burton said. He learned the next day that she has a 17-year-old son.
"There are a lot of patriots in Midland, but that's kind of strange because we don't always get the immediate feedback from that," Burton said. "It's like they love their country as long as it's not them in the Army."
The handful of students discovered by the Reporter-Telegram as initially wanting to enlist but ultimately changing their minds declined to comment about their motivations.
Three new National Guardsmen, one of Midland-based Company C, 2nd Battalion, 142nd Infantry and two of Odessa-based Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 133rd Field Artillery said they had been told by most of their classmates that a fear of dying kept them from enlisting.
The power of fear
A natural fear of having a young life full of potential cut short is reason enough to steer clear of the branch of the military owning a good portion of the Middle East conflicts' fatalities, according to what students tell recruiters.
Many times, a parent's fear of the worst, rather than the student's, is the deciding factor, Byrd said.
Most parents of high-school seniors are of the "Vietnam generation" who heard tales of death, destruction and low morale as they grew up. They see the same things in the media about Iraq today.
The stories they do see or read with happy endings don't burn into the brain like the image of a young man returning from war with no legs or the somber reality encased in a flag-draped coffin.
The recruiters don't fault parents for wanting to protect their children. Instead, they weave themselves into the community to correct inaccurate information and to inspire courage, Burton said.
"Personal courage is one of the Army's values," he said. "Without personal courage comes fear, and with fear comes indecisiveness and confusion."
Barrios and Cole visit Lee High School at least once a month so the students will get used to seeing them and will hopefully lose their fear of talking to them, Barrios said.
"At first they wouldn't come up to us," Barrios said. "Now they are getting used to us being here and will come up to us, mostly to get free stuff. But we are planting the seed. They'll walk around with the Army lanyard around their neck, and other kids see that."
The three new National Guardsmen say their classmates typically have harsh words for them when they learn of their decision to enlist.
"They say I'm stupid and crazy," said Rocky Guzman, a senior at Lamesa High School who has completed basic training and is part of the Odessa battery. "It's not what everybody thinks. It's not all war and not all about killing. There are so many people against joining. Somebody has to do it."
And if he's killed in action, Bobby Tiemann, a junior at Lee High School and member of the Odessa battery, said "the Army will help my family pay for the funeral.
"Just because you do go to Iraq doesn't mean you'll die," he's quick to say.
'America has to take ownership'
The Army has missed its national recruitment goal for the last three months, said Douglas Smith, spokesman for U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox, Ky.
As the Army increases its force, adding to the strain on recruiters, who is going to fill the ranks if people don't volunteer to do so? The pressure to ensure only volunteers comprise the Army is real though there is no movement within the Army to reinstate the draft, Smith said.
"It's almost personal," Wrann said. "We are part of the Army. It's not like we are selling vacuum cleaners... We take our job seriously. (Recruiting) is what my country needs of me, and the fact we can maintain an all-volunteer Army is one of the great things about America."
Burton keeps an inspirational quote on his desk to remind him that he's not the only part of the recruiting equation. It alludes to the fact that though a draft is not being considered, it's not an impossibility.
"Recruiting is not an Army problem," it reads. "Recruiting is an American problem. America has to take ownership."