All Services Meet Recruitment Goals

All Services Meet Recruitment Goals
Military.com | By Bryant Jordan | November 14, 2007


Every active-duty and reserve branch of the military met its accession goals in October, permitting recruiters across the board to begin fiscal year 2008 in the plus column.

The Army brought in 4,564 recruits, 64 more than needed for October for a rate of 101 percent. The Marine Corps netted 2,788 new people, 68 more than goal for 102 percent.

The Navy and Air Force both hit their marks exactly, with 2,388 and 2,656 new recruits, respectively, according to figures released Nov. 13 by the Pentagon.

Among the reserve components, even the Air National Guard, which failed to meet its fiscal 2007 recruiting goal by half a percent, exceeded expectations. It brought in 209 more recruits than the 609 for which it was on tap, for 134 percent of goal.

"The best October we've ever had -- that's what the folks with all the numbers tell me," said Randy Noller, a spokesman for the Air Guard. He attributed the turnaround to more money gone into recruiting bonuses and a special program that puts up to $2,000 into the pockets of Ai Guard members who recruit someone.

The Army Guard was not far behind, achieving a 123 percent accession rate when it pulled in 5,305 recruits, 994 more than its goal of 4,311.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,156220,00.html

I've honestly lost track.

MAQs' INPUT;

""This is just one little corner of Florida. Look all over the Nation and see the large pool of potential recruits available to the Military Recruiter. The Housing Bubble does not only affect the Foreclosed Borrower but also the people who built the homes.

The green recruit can be as old as forty-two to enlist. BUT also remember that the Army will also take in Prior Service People from any branch of the Services."

Construction woes: Workers try to hang on
The slump has hit masons, framers, concrete finishers and roofers especially hard.

By Tom Zucco, Times Staff Writer
Published November 11, 2007

Mark Kowalick always knew that if he didn't like where he was working, he could drive down the street near his New Port Richey neighborhood and find another job. At 39, he has been pouring concrete about half his life. It's what he does.
Or used to do. He has been laid off for nearly a year, a victim of the housing slump. And there's nothing down the street anymore.

To prove his point, Kowalick last week called every concrete company in the Yellow Pages, nearly 20 businesses in all, to find work. "Some numbers weren't working, some were out of business," he said, "and the rest said they weren't hiring or were laying people off."

The "help wanted" ads in the newspaper offer some hope, but one ad for a stone mason's helper, at $8 to $10 an hour, drew nearly 100 applicants. And many other construction job listings, he said, require that the applicant spend several hundred dollars for testing materials or applications.

It's so bad, Kowalick said, that pawn shops have stopped buying the tools contractors use because they're overstocked, and some of his friends have been forced to sell their most prized possession: their pickup trucks...

MEDIA SOURCE: http://www.sptimes.com/2007/11/11/Business/Construction...