For years, the investigative arm of Congress (the U.S. Government Accountability Office) told the U.S. Army what it needed to do to shape up its recruiting operation. Today, many of those recommendations remain ignored and unimplemented.

THE FEDERAL FIGHT TO REFORM MILITARY RECRUITING

For years, the investigative arm of Congress (the U.S. Government Accountability Office) told the U.S. Army what it needed to do to shape up its recruiting operation.  Today, many of those recommendations remain ignored and unimplemented.

• Army has history of ignoring Government Accountability Office

• 2006 GAO Report on military recruiting

• 1998 GAO report

• 1997 GAO report

•1. In a 1997 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, the GAO recommended that the Secretary of Defense “Require...the Marine Corps, the Air Force, and the Army to more closely link recruiting quotas to recruits’ successful completion of basic training” (p. 45).

•2. In responding to the Department of Defense’s call for comments, the Army “basically denied that there was a problem,” according to Brenda Farrell of the GAO. The Army told the GAO: “It would not benefit a recruiter to enlist an otherwise disqualified applicant in as much as the recruiter would lose the initial enlistment contract credit upon separation from the Delayed Entry Program.” 

Farrell said “This answer says nothing about a recruiter’s responsibility for getting the recruit through basic training.”

•3. In DOD’s official comments on the GAO report, they said, “The initial Army response to GAO regarding this recommendation stated that the recruiter ‘has done his job’ once the recruit ships.  Prior to shipping, however, the recruiter ‘manages’ his recruits in the delayed entry program (DEP) closely.  Recruiters are in contact with recruits a minimum of twice monthly, and more frequently when applicants near the ship date.  To the best of their knowledge, recruiters have provided qualified applicants, and most importantly, can no longer influence applicants’ performance once they depart for training” (p. 53).

•4.  Shortly after the GAO report was issued, the House Armed Services Committee had the GAO’s recommendations, including the one above, put into statute for 1998. The wording of the recommendation was for the services to assess recruiter performance in terms of the percentage of persons enlisted by a recruiter who completes basic or initial combat training.

•5.  In a 1998 report, the GAO repeated its recommendation: “To enhance recruiter success and help recruiters focus on DOD’s strategic retention goal, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense instruct the services to link recruiter awards more closely to recruits’ successful completion of basic training” (p. 38).

•6.   In responding to DOD’s call for comments, the Army reported that the Recruiting Command had proposed a new recruiter incentive program based on basic training attrition rates effective Oct. 1, 1998.  This system would link a new soldier’s successful completion of basic training “to current quarterly, semiannual, and annual recruiter awards selection criteria.”  

However, the GAO’s Farrell tells KHOU “This change was not like the Marine Corps system, which took away all the recruiter’s credit if the recruit did not make it through basic training.  The Army’s new system just awarded “extra” points.”

•7.  In official comments on the recommendation, the Department of Defense concurred but still argued that recruiters had no control over basic training, but stated that “nevertheless,” the Army is developing a new system to satisfy our recommendation (p. 55).

•8.  In a 2006 report, the GAO once again suggested the Army follow the Marine Corps model of basing recruiting incentives around how many recruits graduate basic training, stating “This criterion may deter Marine Corps recruiters from committing recruiter violations because they are expected to perform more rigorous screening of applicants to prevent them from recruiting someone who cannot complete basic training and avoid the requirement to recruit an additional applicant. DOD’s Military Entrance Processing Command data show, in fact, that Marine Corps applicants have a lower rate of attrition throughout the recruiting process than the other services.”

•9. In response to KHOU’s investigation here, Congressman Ted Poe calls on the Army to listen to the GAO’s recommendations and implement the changes.