ARLINGTON, Va., - The Army National Guard's readiness is "something to be proud of," the reserve component's top leader said in a recent interview.
"The recruiting numbers that we got today are incredible, the retention rate is unbelievable, and the quality of our Soldiers that we have inside of our formations is nothing short of inspirational," said Maj. Gen. Raymond Carpenter, acting director of the Army National Guard.
The Army National Guard reported its January end strength at 358,442. A total of 4,402 Soldiers were recruited surpassing a goal of 4,100, which is 107 percent. Retention numbers for January were reported at nearly 124 percent of the assigned mission, with 3,115 Soldiers retained.
Future recruiting and retention targets, said the general, will more than likely remain steady in Fiscal Year 2011. "I really believe this depends upon what happens in the world, what happens in the United States [and] what is the responsibility of the National Guard," Carpenter said.
Although referral dollars earned through the Guard Recruiting and Assistance Program (G-RAP) provide incentive for Guardmembers to recruit friends and family, the general said it really requires people who like being a part of the National Guard to bring in others.
"So recruiting has to be vigorous and viable," he said. "It has to be adaptable; it has to fill those 44,000 slots [annually] that we have out there."
Carpenter said leaders learned a lot after 9/11 about the Guard's identity and its importance as a family organization that takes care of Soldiers, families and employers.
"If you're going to ask people to mobilize and deploy on fairly frequent cycles … you have to give consideration to the whole family - to what's going on inside that Soldier's life," he said.
Carpenter also noted that Army Guard family readiness groups grew well beyond their pre-9/11 role to being an integral part of the command team now. "They are a functioning part of our team in the National Guard, and that's a big deal," he said.
In addition to those readiness successes, officials here reported that the Army Guard reduced the number of non prior-service recruits awaiting their initial training. Last year, leaders pointed out those delays as a problem.
Guard officials said increased collaboration with the Army for training seats as well as the creation of an inactive duty Recruit Force Pool Program reduced their training pipelines by 37 percent - that pipeline is currently 29,855 Soldiers compared to 47,169 Soldiers one year ago.
Carpenter also said the Guard's requirement to reduce 10,000 Soldiers in its end strength by September 2009 allowed it to select and keep the "highest quality Soldiers" in its ranks.
"Our (military occupational specialty) qualification rate went from around 80 percent to well over 90 percent during that period of time," he said. "So, the readiness inside the Army National Guard today is incredible."