
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, August 15, 1994                   TAG: 9408150077
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

RECRUITERS HIT FOR ENLISTING AS FEW AS 1 A YEAR

Some of the nation's 6,000 military recruitment offices, which together spend millions of taxpayer dollars, sign up as few as one person a year, according to a published report Sunday.

The information came from an advance copy of a General Accounting Office study obtained by The Washington Post.

The report is ammunition for critics on Capitol Hill who have called for spending cuts in the recruitment program, which continues to sign up fewer people each year.

But Pentagon officials have asked for increases in funding, saying the Defense Department needs to step up efforts to prepare for expected shortages of young people willing to enter the armed services.

The GAO said the potential for recruitment shortfalls has been exaggerated, according to The Post report.

This year, the armed services will spend $1.3 billion on recruitment, said Defense Department spokesman Maj. Bruce Fitch.

Fitch could not answer any questions related to the recruitment program and forwarded queries to Air Force Lt. Col. Doug Hart. Hart did not return a call for comment Sunday.

According to the report, half of the 6,000 recruitment offices produce only 10 percent of the people entering the services each year.

Hart told The Post that the Pentagon has closed nearly 2,000 recruitment offices in the last seven years. The GAO report recommends further closings.

In 1987, 8,100 offices were open and had recruited 317,000 people, Hart told the newspaper. This year, the Defense Department projects 185,000 people will be recruited.

Sen. David Pryor, D-Ark., ordered the GAO investigation. Among the GAO's recommendations: consolidating offices; using recreational vehicles as mobile recruitment units; and trimming middle management.

by CNB