Army Meets July Active Duty Goal
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New monthly recruiting figures released by the Pentagon (search) Wednesday show the Army exceeded its recruiting goal for active duty in July, but continued to fall short of its recruitment goal for the U.S. Army Reserve.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said figures being released Wednesday show that the Army Reserves (search) met 82 percent of its 2,585 July goal by recruiting 2,131 volunteers for the Reserve. The National Guard recruited at 80 percent, or 4,712, of its 5,920 goal.
Year to date, the Army is at 89 percent of its active duty recruiting goal of 80,000, Whitman said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The rest of the branches — Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force — also either met their recruitment goals for July or were very close. Those three branches, except the Air National Guard, are on track to meet their annual goals.
The Pentagon continues to attribute the shortfall in the Reserves to a challenging recruitment environment triggered by a strong economy and concerns among parents that young people will be sent to Iraq. The Army, in particular, has offered a series of bonuses, incentives and enlistment options to help boost recruitment and retention.
FOX News' Nick Simeone and Bret Baier contributed to this report.