Chance of going to Iraq doesn’t deter recruits

From The Desert Sun

You hear a lot of talk about polls and the war in Iraq. But it is things like this that tell the real story.

Most of them already know before they walk inside the military recruitment office: if they sign up for enlistment, there is a good chance they will participate in the war in Iraq.

And it’s a "hot" war, with intense battles being fought and televised every day.

But that hasn’t dimmed the enthusiasm of hundreds of thousands of young men and women signing up for military service.

The Army is expecting to meet its enlistment goal of 77,000 recruits for the fourth straight year, and it has plans to raise that goal to 80,000 next year. Navy retention rates are climbing, as are admittance standards. Marine Corps retention and recruitment are also on the rise.

The local United States Army recruitment office in Indio is doing even better than the national trend. The office is experiencing a boom in interest and contracts, according to Staff Sgt. James Chase.

"Our numbers are up by at least 50 percent," said Chase. "(The recruits) just want to defend their country, and they’re tired of seeing other people die."

As of July 30, 1,044 soldiers have been killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere since the war on terror began.

But rather than scaring recruits away, which some military officials expected, the recent combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have lit a fire under many recruits who sign up for military service.

"It isn’t for education, it isn’t for money or all this stuff you read …," said Chase. "The people that come in here and join the Army want to go over there and help their country. They aren’t scared of dying.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------