thedrifter
09-16-06, 07:38 AM
Five years after 9/11, military recruiters busy
By JACK MINCH , Sun Staff
Dave Evans and Frank Rao look like lean Marines.
They stand at parade rest, hands folded behind their backs and their legs shoulder-width apart while Marine Corps recruiters talk to a recent visitor in the Lowell office. The 18-year-old Billerica Memorial High School graduates will barely move for an hour, though they won't ship out to boot camp until Oct. 8.
Evans and Rao are among the latest local military recruits. Nearly five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, recruiters say they usually meet their monthly goals, and sometimes exceed them. Those numbers come despite the plodding war in Iraq with its death tolls regularly updated in headlines, and the unsuccessful search for Osama bin Laden.
More than 1.6 million people have enlisted since Sept. 11, said President George Bush during his address to the nation Monday night. Recruitment numbers are strong throughout Greater Lowell. The National Guard is averaging 127 soldiers and airmen a month in 2006, up from an average of 95 a month in the last three years, said National Guard Staff Sgt. Robert C. Russo Jr. The Guard's goal is 120 per month. Army Maj. Mark A. Spear, who commands recruiters in Lowell and Billerica, said those offices are exceeding their goals for the regular Army, and meeting goals in the Army reserves.
There are several reasons:
* The biggest: "A lot of (recruits) just want to do their part for their country," said Marine recruiter Staff Sgt. James N. Springer.
* Commanders ordered recruiters to step up efforts.
* Enlistment incentives increased from $3,000 or $4,000 to $20,000.
* The maximum age for recruits was raised from 34 to 42.
Older people sign up "for the sake of patriotism," said Russo, who was discharged from the regular Army in 1995 but enlisted in the National Guard after Sept. 11. A 42-year-old former Army soldier walked into Russo's Kearney Square office in downtown Lowell last month and signed up as a combat engineer. The man does not have to retake basic training, and is expected to join his unit in Newburyport this month, Russo said.
Most recruits are in their teens or early 20s like Evans and Rao, who still face 13 weeks of boot camp at Parris Island in Beaufort, S.C. Many are following brothers, cousins or friends into the military, said Gunnery Sgt. Robert S. Pashalian.
"The only thing that has changed is their parents may be a little more hesitant to let them join because of the situation in the world," he said. "That may be the only difference."
Parents are encouraged to come to recruiting visits and ask questions, said Air Force TSgt. Tracy Michaud.
Recruiting offices are hot zones of patriotism. There are American flags on poles, on walls and on desks. The talk is about missions, challenges and love of country.
Marine recruiters like Springer keep several small disks to use as talking points. The disks are inscribed with such phrases as "courage, poise and self-confidence," "pride of belonging," "self reliance, self direction, self discipline," "challenge" and of course "patriotism".
Ronnie Houle of Dracut served in the Marines. But when his son Craig Houle, 19, of Lowell, called him from the Marine Corps recruiting office this summer, he ordered a halt to talks. "With two wars going on I'd rather have him in the Navy than Afghanistan or Iraq," said Houle, a maintenance engineer at The Sun. Craig Houle ships out to the Navy's basic training facility in Illinois on Nov. 11.
Half of all the Marine Corps enlistments in the Lowell office like Evans decide to be so-called grunts -- members of the infantry -- even when they qualify for other jobs. They want to be at the point of action, Springer and Pashalian said.
All military branches offer scores of job opportunities and programs to save for college. But for some people like Rao, who enlisted as an aviation mechanic, it's not about the job.
"To me the job in the Marine Corps is kind of a bonus," he said. "You serve your country and they give you something to come back on. I joined to be a Marine, I didn't join just to be a mechanic."
Jack Minch's e-mail address is jminch@lowellsun.com.
Ellie
By JACK MINCH , Sun Staff
Dave Evans and Frank Rao look like lean Marines.
They stand at parade rest, hands folded behind their backs and their legs shoulder-width apart while Marine Corps recruiters talk to a recent visitor in the Lowell office. The 18-year-old Billerica Memorial High School graduates will barely move for an hour, though they won't ship out to boot camp until Oct. 8.
Evans and Rao are among the latest local military recruits. Nearly five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, recruiters say they usually meet their monthly goals, and sometimes exceed them. Those numbers come despite the plodding war in Iraq with its death tolls regularly updated in headlines, and the unsuccessful search for Osama bin Laden.
More than 1.6 million people have enlisted since Sept. 11, said President George Bush during his address to the nation Monday night. Recruitment numbers are strong throughout Greater Lowell. The National Guard is averaging 127 soldiers and airmen a month in 2006, up from an average of 95 a month in the last three years, said National Guard Staff Sgt. Robert C. Russo Jr. The Guard's goal is 120 per month. Army Maj. Mark A. Spear, who commands recruiters in Lowell and Billerica, said those offices are exceeding their goals for the regular Army, and meeting goals in the Army reserves.
There are several reasons:
* The biggest: "A lot of (recruits) just want to do their part for their country," said Marine recruiter Staff Sgt. James N. Springer.
* Commanders ordered recruiters to step up efforts.
* Enlistment incentives increased from $3,000 or $4,000 to $20,000.
* The maximum age for recruits was raised from 34 to 42.
Older people sign up "for the sake of patriotism," said Russo, who was discharged from the regular Army in 1995 but enlisted in the National Guard after Sept. 11. A 42-year-old former Army soldier walked into Russo's Kearney Square office in downtown Lowell last month and signed up as a combat engineer. The man does not have to retake basic training, and is expected to join his unit in Newburyport this month, Russo said.
Most recruits are in their teens or early 20s like Evans and Rao, who still face 13 weeks of boot camp at Parris Island in Beaufort, S.C. Many are following brothers, cousins or friends into the military, said Gunnery Sgt. Robert S. Pashalian.
"The only thing that has changed is their parents may be a little more hesitant to let them join because of the situation in the world," he said. "That may be the only difference."
Parents are encouraged to come to recruiting visits and ask questions, said Air Force TSgt. Tracy Michaud.
Recruiting offices are hot zones of patriotism. There are American flags on poles, on walls and on desks. The talk is about missions, challenges and love of country.
Marine recruiters like Springer keep several small disks to use as talking points. The disks are inscribed with such phrases as "courage, poise and self-confidence," "pride of belonging," "self reliance, self direction, self discipline," "challenge" and of course "patriotism".
Ronnie Houle of Dracut served in the Marines. But when his son Craig Houle, 19, of Lowell, called him from the Marine Corps recruiting office this summer, he ordered a halt to talks. "With two wars going on I'd rather have him in the Navy than Afghanistan or Iraq," said Houle, a maintenance engineer at The Sun. Craig Houle ships out to the Navy's basic training facility in Illinois on Nov. 11.
Half of all the Marine Corps enlistments in the Lowell office like Evans decide to be so-called grunts -- members of the infantry -- even when they qualify for other jobs. They want to be at the point of action, Springer and Pashalian said.
All military branches offer scores of job opportunities and programs to save for college. But for some people like Rao, who enlisted as an aviation mechanic, it's not about the job.
"To me the job in the Marine Corps is kind of a bonus," he said. "You serve your country and they give you something to come back on. I joined to be a Marine, I didn't join just to be a mechanic."
Jack Minch's e-mail address is jminch@lowellsun.com.
Ellie