Annex III: Military Recruiting and Recruiter Irregularities

Report for 2006

The All-Volunteer Force (AVF) has served the nation for over 30 years, providing a military that is experienced, well-trained, disciplined, and representative of America. Service recruiters are asked to seek out the best and brightest of America's youth to staff the AVF. These recruiters have answered the call working long and unusual hours at great sacrifice to their families.

Since recruiters are often the only exposure that many communities have to members of the military, it is critical that they represent the military and their Service in a very professional and ethical manner. While the overwhelming majority of recruiters are most ethical, a very small number choose to engage in inappropriate recruiting techniques in their attempts to enlist new members. These actions negatively affect all of the Services' recruiting efforts and each of the Services takes this issue very seriously.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) report (MILITARY RECRUITING: DOD and Services Need Better Data to Enhance Visibility over Recruiter Irregularities, GAO-06-846, August 2006) made several recommendation on how the Department could do a better job tracking and reporting recruiter irregularities. To this end, the Department formed a working group to standardize the terms and reporting requirements across the Services. This report is the first that applies GAO's recommendations as well as the Services' input and will provide the Department better oversight regarding recruiter irregularities.

In Table 1, the new Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) guidelines were used to compare the number of substantiated claims to the total number of accessions. Department-wide, less than one-fifth of one percent of our accessions (518 out of 317,866) were involved in a substantiated claim of recruiter irregularity. While we strive for zero irregularities this number, when put in perspective, is extremely low.

TABLE 2a. Substantiated Claims by Type, 2006

TABLE 2b. Substantiated Claims by Type and by Service

The Department understands that behind these claims are young men or women who are excited about serving their country. Any inappropriate action taken by a recruiter that negatively impacts the processing of these young people is a concern and is inconsistent with our values. Table 2a shows that DoD-wide, more than three quarters (77%) of substantiated claims resulted not from inappropriate criminal or sexual misconduct, but instead from recruiters concealing/falsifying information or not paying close enough attention in the quality control aspects of the contracting process.

When incidents of recruiter irregularity occur, the Services have mechanisms in place to remedy violations and limit future occurrences. Each Service has an office that provides recruiter oversight regarding misconduct and unethical behavior. Unethical behavior not only breaks down the recruiting process, but it also fosters distrust of the military. Such distrust makes recruiting for all even more difficult. Recruiters guilty of recruiting improprieties are subject to punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Possible punishments range from a court martial to non-adverse administrative action depending on the severity of the offense and the recruiter's record of service.

The Department will continue to monitor this issue to help minimize the occurrences of recruiter irregularities. It is important to remember that the military Services employed approximately 22,000 production recruiters who accessed almost 318,000 young men and women for the active and reserve forces in FY2006. These recruiters have earned and deserve America's respect.