MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Since missing their recruiting goals for four straight months from January to April 2005, the Marine Corps is back on track and expected to meet overall shipping goals for the fiscal year.
The increase in numbers may be in part due to the summer months, which traditionally bring in more prospects than springtime due to the influx of new high school graduates.
In May, Marine recruiters assessed 2,673 enlistees, 121 more than the required monthly goal of 2,552.
June, July and August were all successful months for Marine Corps recruiting as well – June saw 5,170 enlistees, eclipsing that month’s goal by 105.
July delivered similar results, with 4,319 enlistees, beating the monthly goal by 59.
These numbers reflect both active duty and reserve contracts, according to Staff Sgt. Marc R. Ayalin, a spokesman for Marine Corps Recruiting Command.
August numbers were not available at press time.
Despite three rocky months earlier this year, the Marine Corps is well on track to met and exceed expected recruiting goals for Fiscal Year 2005 by 2-percent, said Ayalin.
“By the end of Fiscal Year 2005, the Marine Corps should have 39,150 recruits signed up and shipped to boot camp,” he said.
Even as other services dangle attractive incentives to prospective recruits, such as shorter contract obligations and tempting cash bonuses, the Corps continues to offer the intangibles of joining the armed forces.
“We try and find out what the person wants out of life, and we show them how the Marine Corps brings extra growth to the table,” said Gunnery Sgt. Gregory S. Gilliam, the noncommissioned officer in charge of Recruiting Substation Nashville, Tenn.
While Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have raised a few more eyebrows of some parents, schoolteachers, and other recruiting “influencers” in Nashville, the Global War on Terrorism has not had any significant impact on recruiting in his area, said Gilliam.
Offering intangible benefits, such as the pride of becoming a Marine, is what allows the Marine Corps to continue to meet its recruiting goals, said Gilliam, who has been a recruiter for several years now.
Despite commitments to the Global War on Terrorism and Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, the Marine Corps is not in the business of lowering its enlistment standards simply to ensure recruiting goals are met, said Gilliam.
“The Marine Corps wouldn’t be the Marine Corps if we lowered our standards to try and pull in more contracts,” he said.