By Arthur Kane and Beth Potter
The Denver Post
Logwan Lewis thought about joining the Army like his father, but with the U.S. embroiled in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he decided to go straight to college.
“Even if they train you, if you slip, people could get their heads cut off,” said the 17-year-old Colorado Free School student. “You’re going to get killed or get hurt.”
That reasoning appears to have fed recruiting declines in Colorado and across the country.
Nationwide, statistics show U.S. Army recruiting is down 7,000 from the goal of 80,000 new soldiers for the fiscal year that ended Friday, according to The Associated Press.
Local recruiters refused to release their statistics but conceded they did not hit their objectives.
“We are down on our goals in the fiscal year,” said Deborah Cannon, spokeswoman for the Army’s recruiting in an area covering much of Colorado and parts of Wyoming and Montana.
The Associated Press said the nationwide Army figures, which won’t officially be released until Oct. 11, are down the greatest amount since 1979.
The figures raise questions about whether the Army can grow by 50,000, which some congressional officials have suggested is necessary to fight two wars.
Some officials said the last few months of this fiscal year were strong, leading them to believe they can meet goals next year.
“We have met the active Army’s monthly recruiting goals since June, and we expect to meet it for September, which sends us into fiscal year 2006 on a winning streak,” said Beth Musselman, Army spokeswoman.
However, the Army has a smaller-then-usual reservoir of enlistees from the delayed-entry program in which recruits commit to join the Army and then ship to boot camp months later.
Local recruiters blamed any recruiting difficulties on parents who do not want their children to go to war.
“The challenges we have are not with the youth wanting to serve their country, it’s the concerns of the parents,” said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Brodeur, commander of the Denver Army Recruiting Battalion.
Young people have their own opinions about the military.
“I don’t believe in war,” said Chris Ankele, a 17-year-old East High School graduate. “I have too much to live for.”
Other students in Colorado are preparing for a career in the military despite the dangers.
“The Marines’ motto is about becoming a better citizen,” said Katherine “Phoebe” Stathes, a 17-year-old Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps student at East High who concedes other students sometimes call her a baby killer. “It’s nothing about killing people.”
On the positive side for the military, retention of soldiers has not suffered because of the war.
Sgt. Maj. George Stapleton, who works on retention at Fort Carson, said the goal was to have 2,337 soldiers re-enlist during the just-concluded fiscal year and 2,608 signed up for another tour.
“We’re having a really good year,” he said. The soldiers are “patriots who know the country needs them for a little longer.”
Army recruitment has lagged behind the other branches, as its troops have suffered most of the casualties in the wars.
Figures for active-duty soldiers nationwide between Oct. 1, 2004, and May 31, 2005, show that only the Army did not meet its goals. Local figures were not available for Colorado as recruiting officers for other branches did not return calls.
Cannon conceded that the Colorado area is not one of the strongest in the country for recruits, although a lot of people are joining in the Colorado Springs area.
Staff writer Arthur Kane can be reached at 303-820-1626 or akane@denverpost.com.
