ARLINGTON, Va., - Both the Army and Air National Guard missed their recruiting goals for June, but their end-strength numbers are still within congressionally mandated limits, Guard officials said today.
In June, the Army Guard met 94 percent of its monthly recruiting goal with 4,544 accessions while the Air Guard reached 99 percent of its goal with 501 accessions.
“This is good news for the Guard and the American people as it demonstrates that our nation and its allies can continue to depend on a strong and ready force of Citizen-Soldiers despite the high volume of continuing foreign and domestic demands placed on the National Guard,” said Maj. Gen. Raymond Carpenter, acting director of the Army National Guard.
As of June 30, the Army Guard was just shy of 363,000 Soldiers, which is about 4,700 Soldiers above its congressionally mandated end strength of 358,200.
However, end-strength numbers are authorized to be up to 3 percent above that mandated limit, Guard officials said.
Recruiting numbers in both the Army and Air Guard that were set well before this fiscal year will continue to be adjusted throughout the remainder of the fiscal year to maintain authorized end strength, Guard officials said.
“We set a goal to bring this many people in, but we may not need to bring that many people in because people aren’t leaving,” said Air Force Col. Mary Salcido, chief of recruiting and retention for the Air Guard.
High retention rates have also contributed to the adjusted recruiting goals.
“The ability of our leaders at the company level to impact a Soldier's decision to remain in the ARNG contributes to our ability to have formations that are available to defend this nation's freedom and protect its borders,” said Army Lt. Col. Ron Walls, chief of the Army Guard’s strength maintenance division.
Salcido agreed that keeping experienced Airmen in the service translates to a better qualified force.
“The nature of the National Guard is a more mature force,” she said. “That means we’re a better force, because we’ve been around the block. We know it, we’ve done it, we’ve fixed it before, and we’re not going to make the same mistakes.”
But the challenge, said Salcido, is balancing that experience with the needs of a changing mission set.
“As far as force management goes, when you change missions, then you see the leveling of that because the older guys go out, because they don’t want to retrain,” she said.
As a result, recruiting and retention efforts constantly change to meet those needs.
“We have our challenges, but we’re doing pretty good,” said Salcido. “We’re very proactive with seeing what’s out there first and changing the way we do business to better meet the needs and challenges we face.
“The future looks great,” she said. “We’re making end-strength and that’s the ultimate goal.”