Army Recruiting Command is 964 accessions ahead of its year-to-date mission to recruit 80,000 new Active Army Soldiers.

Fiscal Year 2007 Missions:
Active Army 80,000
Army Reserve 26,500

July 2007 Mission Accomplishments:
We recruited (accessed) 9,973 Soldiers for the Active Army against a mission of 9,750 (102.3 percent).

We recruited 3,822 Soldiers for the Army Reserve against a mission of 3,250 (117.6 percent).

Fiscal Year 2007 Year-to-date:
As of 30 July 2007, we have recruited (accessed) 61,864 Soldiers for the Active Army and 21,496 Soldiers for the Army Reserve. We have exceeded our active Army year-to-date mission by 964 accessions (101.6 percent) and have achieved 99.2 percent of the year-to-date Army Reserve mission.

To put our current success in perspective, consider that we're recruiting an all-volunteer force during a protracted war for the first time in history. We're on track to help the Army maintain its current end-strength.

While our leadership understands the challenge, they are confident we can achieve the 80,000 mission set for this year -- enabling the Army to grow and keep pace with our operational requirements.

There are a number of factors that are involved in the current challenges in recruiting. These include: the strong economy leading to low unemployment; effects of the war on decisions to enlist and the decreasing support of influencers for those prospects who want to serve. All of this has resulted in fewer contracts within this year.

The Army continues to face the greatest challenges in the history of the All-Volunteer Force. We're recruiting during a period of protracted war, and the desire to enlist is at its lowest point in two decades.

Of course, the war is one factor in the current recruiting environment having an impact on military recruiting. Other factors include a high college-attendance rate among graduating high school seniors and a strong civilian employment market, which historically makes military recruiting difficult. But we continue to see young men and women stepping forward to be a part of the Army team -- and we are ahead of our accessions mission year to date.

Despite the challenges, 80,000 Soldiers have made the commitment to serve in the Active Army and the Army Reserve to date. The Active Army is currently at 101.6% year to date. The Army Reserve is at 99.2% year to date. We are reasonably confident we will close the gap for the Army Reserve by the end of the fiscal year.

FY 07 Missions and Accessions by Month
as of 30 Jul 07

Active Army
Month Mission Achieved YTD Mission YTD Achieved Diff
Oct 5,150 5,560 5,150 5,560 410
Nov 6,150 6,488 11,300 12,048 748
Dec 700 859 12,000 12,907 907
Jan 8,350 9,309 20,350 22,216 1,866
Feb 6,000 6,195 26,350 28,411 2,061
Mar 5,500 5,545 31,850 33,956 2,106
Apr 5,400 5,804 37,250 39,760 2,510
May 5,500 5,101 42,750 44,860 2,110
June 8,400 7,031 51,150 51,891 741
July 9,750 9,973 60,900 61,864 964
Aug 9,600 70,500
Sep 9,500 80,000
Total 80,000 80,000

Army Reserve
Month Mission Achieved YTD Mission YTD Achieved Diff
Oct 1,550 1,457 1,550 1,457 -93
Nov 1,750 1,223 3,300 2,680 -620
Dec 575 676 3,875 3,356 -519
Jan 2,650 2,478 6,525 5,834 -691
Feb 1,600 1,489 8,125 7,323 -802
Mar 1,700 1,243 9,825 8,566 -1,259
Apr 1,600 1,203 11,425 9,769 -1,656
May 2,900 3,165 14,325 12,934 -1,391
June 4,100 4,740 18,425 17,674 -751
July 3,250 3,822 21,675 21,496 -179
Aug 2,625 24,300
Sep 2,200 26,500
Total 26,500 26,500

FY 06 Missions and Accessions by Month
As of 29 Sep 06

Active Army
Month Mission Achieved YTD Mission YTD Achieved Diff
Oct 4,700 4,925 4,700 4,925 225
Nov 5,600 5,856 10,300 10,781 481
Dec 700 741 11,000 11,522 522
Jan 8,100 8,337 19,100 19,859 759
Feb 6,000 6,114 25,100 25,973 873
Mar 5,200 5,396 30,300 31,369 1,069
Apr 5,400 5,684 35,700 37,053 1,353
May 5,400 5,806 41,100 42,859 1,759
June 8,600 8,756 49,700 51,615 1,915
July 10,450 10,890 60,150 62,505 2,355
Aug 10,050 10,492 70,200 72,997 2,797
Sep 9,800 7,666 80,000 80,635 635
Total 80,000 80,635 635

Army Reserve
Month Mission Achieved YTD Mission YTD Achieved Diff
Oct 1,242 1,503 1,242 1,503 261
Nov 1,342 1,451 2,584 2,954 370
Dec 417 724 3,001 3,678 677
Jan 2,342 2,398 5,343 6,076 733
Feb 1,542 1,548 6,885 7,624 739
Mar 1,642 1,516 8,527 9,140 613
Apr 1,742 1,294 10,269 10,434 165
May 2,892 2,822 13,161 13,256 95
June 3,792 4,913 16,953 18,169 1,216
July 3,442 3,083 20,395 21,252 857
Aug 3,065 1,840 23,460 23,092 -368
Sep 2,040 2,281 25,500 25,378 -122
Total 25,500 25,378 -122

NOTE: Due to edits to previous months' numbers, adding September accomplishments to the previous year to date achieved numbers will not yield the final end of year accomplishment.