Recruitment

The article discusses how the U.S. government created a huge army in 1917. When Congress declared war on the Central Powers on April 6, 1917, they were bluffing. The U.S. had an army of just 125,000 men, scarcely in the same league with the millions engaged in Europe. In 1917 and 1918, virtually all men aged 18 to 45 registered for the draft, more than 24 million all told. Training camps sprang up all over America, and by the Armistice in November 1918, the U.S. had 1.2 million men in arms.

The article examines the future of the U.S. All-Volunteer Army (VOLAR). Topics covered include how the quality of the U.S. Army deteriorated with the new enlistees having a high percentage of low mental and physical profiles and how the failure to increase the size of the Army led to a conversion of the reserve components into a significant element of the operating forces and a requirement for contracting with civilian organizations to augment logistic and administrative services.

Offers a look at the approaches employed by the United States (U.S.) Army to recruit young people for military service. Factors which contributed to the recruiting problems during the 1920s; Impact of Great Depression in easing the problems of recruiting; Importance for the U.S. Army to be able to recruit sufficient number of soldiers.

This report documents research and analysis conducted as part of a project entitled
Influencing Will to Fight, sponsored by the U.S. Army G-3/5/7. The purpose of the
project was to explain will to fight at the unit level and to develop a model designed to
support assessment of partner forces and analysis of adversary forces.

In this report, we review the Army’s progress in implementing the Army Total Force Policy across the domains of doctrine, organization, collective training, mobilization, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, and facilities. Our assessment is based on objective indica- tors as well as interviews with stakeholders in the Regular Army, Army National Guard, and U.S. Army Reserve. We also discuss related rec- ommendations made by the National Commission on the Future of the Army, obstacles to integration, and additional steps the Army could take to move toward the goal of total force integration.