Army recruiters had approached high school senior Jose Renteria twice before. The third time he spoke with recruiters, he sought them out.
“I went to them because I was going through a lot of things – gang banging, shootings, police harassment – I wanted to have discipline, just not to be out here on the street corner,” said Renteria, an 18-year-old Evanston Township High School student.
A couple of police cars sped past, heading south on Lake Street by the high school. “See that?” he said. “It’s like that all the time here.”
“If I’m out here getting shot at protecting a street corner, government property, why not go out and fight for my country?” Renteria said. “If I’m going to have bullets shooting at me, I’d rather be in Iran or Iraq.”
Evanston Army recruiters are putting more muscle into outreach, keeping local enlistment numbers ahead of the national trend. There are more recruiters on the ground, drawing in students like Renteria. The Army also has increased advertising and financial incentives, said Bill Kelo, Army spokesman for the North Side of Chicago and the surrounding northern suburbs.
Recruitment numbers remain strong for this area. But nationally this is the first year in the last five that Army recruitment has fallen short of its goals. In the 2005 fiscal year, the Army recruited about 73,000 instead of 80,000 for active duty. It only recruited about 24,000 for reserve duty out of the expected about 28,000.
Army recruitment faces three chief difficulties, Kelo said. Because of Congressional approval to increase military presence abroad, the Army is looking for more young men and women than before. Also, the improvement of the economy over the last eighteen months has posed a challenge, as the Army competes with private employers for potential recruits.
“The war in Iraq has also had a strong impact on recruitment,” said Kelo, “in sometimes positive and sometimes negative ways.”
For the North Side of Chicago and the surrounding northern suburbs including Evanston, enlistment is increasing and continuing to accelerate. From fiscal year 2004 to fiscal year 2005, the number of recruits rose to 234 from 185. For each quarter of fiscal year 2005, the numbers of recruits snowballed, he said. In October, the Army recruited 28 individuals from north Chicago and surrounding suburbs, a sharp increase compared with October 2004.
Sixty percent of recruits have graduated from high school and have been in the job market, 30 percent have some college education and about 10 percent of recruits come directly after graduating from high school, Kelo said.
“The decision to join is based on each young man or young woman’s individual assessment, involving a very complicated mix of decision-making components,” he said. “Some come to us wanting to join the fight of the global war on terror – others use the service as a steppingstone to further their career goals. We communicate the benefits but also the reality of serving.”
Dorothy Coppock, chairwoman of the counseling department at ETHS, said about 1 percent of ETHS seniors choose to enter the armed services after graduation. Through the No Child Left Behind Act, high schools receiving federal aid give military recruiters access to student directories. They use those lists to contact students directly through mail and by phone. To protect students’ privacy, ETHS, 1600 Dodge Ave., gives parents the opportunity to “opt out” of releasing student information to recruiters when the student begins high school.
Nationwide the Army is overhauling its recruitment strategies. It has increased its budget by 65 percent this year. Army recruiters are working with Congress to increase the initial recruitment incentive to $40,000 from $20,000 for some candidates. It also is adding signing bonuses, finder bonuses and other incentives.
For some troubled youths, the Army provides a viable opportunity to cast off gang life.
“After four years, I’m gonna have everything, you know, better life, better future,” ETHS senior Renteria said.
Joining the armed forces would allow him to provide for his mother and those he cared about, he said. Renteria said it is better to get killed in Iraq than on the street corner, because at least that way his family would receive compensation.
“My friends are younger, they don’t think about the Army, they still think they’re invincible,” Renteria said. “I’ve matured, now I’m trying to live my life straight, not making my people suffer.”
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