by Drew Smith
The nation’s largest military branch missed its recruitment quota last year for the first time since 2005, during the height of the Iraq War. In 2018, the Army fell 6,500 soldiers short.
Twenty years ago, more than ten counties in Arkansas ranked in the top 500 for Army recruits, but last year, only a handful made the cut.
Sergeant Jefferey Gray, a Fayetteville Army Recruiter, said his responsibilities go much further than speaking at career fairs, high schools, and colleges.
“The job is not always a recruiting effort, trying to get people to come join the Army,” Gray said. “A lot of times, it’s just about getting our names out there and letting people know that we’re trying to help the community as well.”
Nationally, the Army wants to target young people by increasing the branch’s activity on social media and by making connections in the video game community. As part of the new recruitment strategy, the Army encourages recruits and active duty members to try out for the Army E-Sports Team.
The Army also plans to make a push in 22 cities, but last week’s Supreme Court decision to uphold President Trump’s ban on Transgender military members could create recruitment difficulties. Statistically, those 22 cities have larger LGBT communities than most rural areas, which have historically been heavily recruited.
Ian Sutphin, a sophomore at the University of Arkansas and a member of P.R.I.D.E., believes the ban could prevent young people all over the country from walking in recruitment offices. As a gay man, who was born into a family of Army veterans, Sutphin takes issue with the recent ruling.
“If a person is perfectly fine, and wants to serve their country, I feel they should be able to,” Sutphin said. “If the government would try to fix some of these things and become less alienating, there might be a better chance at recruitment.”
In 2016, across all military branches, 8,980 members identified as Transgender. Those members represent approximately 0.7 percent of the U.S. military.