Army Re-Upping on Track

Even though the Army appears likely to miss its goal of recruiting 80,000 new soldiers this year, it's ahead of the pace needed to reach its goal of convincing 64,162 soldiers to re-enlist.Sgt. Jonathan Jacobs joined the Army to get away from his part-time jobs as a telemarketer and a cargo handler. He ended up in Iraq, but that didn't stop the 24-year-old 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper from signing up in March for another hitch, even though that could mean another tour in the Middle East. He has a newborn son and says the Army offers him a career as a communication specialist and his family a secure future. At a time when the Iraq war has made it tougher for the Army to recruit new members of its all-volunteer force, there's no hesitation to re-enlist among soldiers like Jacobs and other members of the Army's elite airborne units. "The Army gives you a chance to see life," said Jacobs, of Bay Shore, N.Y. "You're secure. You have food. You have shelter. You have a paycheck." Even though the Army appears likely to miss its goal of recruiting 80,000 new soldiers this year, it's ahead of the pace needed to reach its goal of convincing 64,162 soldiers, from privates to top sergeants, to re-enlist by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. Through the end of May, 45,333 soldiers had re-enlisted, said Lt. Col. Pamela Hart, an Army spokeswoman at the Pentagon.That's 70 percent of the Army's full-year goal. Nearly 11,000 soldiers from the elite 18th Airborne Corps, which includes four of the Army's 10 active divisions, have "re-upped" this year. That's about 86 percent of the corps' full-year goal, said the corps commander, Maj. Gen. Virgil Packett. "The 18th Airborne Corps is carrying the Army right now in retention," Packett said. And leading the corps is the 82nd Airborne, which has reached 97 percent of its annual goal, even though it has deployed regularly to Iraq and Afghanistan.The 82nd's paratroopers are "a special cut of American society," Packett said. "It takes a cut of a different person to jump out of an airplane." Staff Sgt. Daniel Metzdorf decided to re-enlist even though a roadside bomb blew off part of his right leg last year while he was in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne. "It's my life," said Metzdorf, 28, of Altamonte Springs, Fla., who uses an artificial leg and still must requalify as a paratrooper to remain with the division. "It's where I need to be." Metzdorf was in the crowd last week when President Bush spoke at Fort Bragg, refusing to set a specific timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. "I thank those of you who have re-enlisted in an hour when your country needs you," Bush told the audience of 700 soldiers and airmen. Many of the military personnel said they were glad Bush made that point. The president's comments "made me proud of what I am doing," said Pfc. Reese Combs, a 19-year-old paratrooper from Tampa, Fla. "It keeps me motivated." To be sure, there are soldiers who choose not to re-enlist.Some even try to get out of their original service commitments, said Chuck Fager, director of Quaker House in nearby Fayetteville, whose organization counsels unhappy members of the military. Before the Iraq war started in March 2003, Quaker House's record for calls in a year was 3,128 in 2001. It took nearly 6,000 calls last year. "People not wanting to go to Iraq was a very common concern," Fager said. That attitude isn't shared by many of the paratroopers of Fort Bragg, even among those who have not yet served in the Middle East. Spc. Daniel Torres, 28, plans to re-enlist later this year, calling life in the Army more stable that when he worked all hours as a materials handler for a biopharmaceutical firm. "I know I want to re-enlist," said Torres, a married father of two from East Brunswick, N.J. "It's a better lifestyle. I'm comfortable."