Recruitment efforts lag in Bay Area By MATT KAPKO Half Moon Bay Review March 23, 2005 As the war in Iraq enters its third year, military recruiters here and elsewhere are finding life in the armed services an increasingly tough sell. National recruiting goals are trailing quotas by just a few percentage points, but recruitment in the Bay Area is barely providing half of the young men and women experts say are needed to sustain the war effort. "We haven't had people running away from us, but we haven't had surges of people either," said Sgt. David Sarnecki, a San Mateo County army recruiter. "Locally, we are not making our mission," said John Heil, public affairs chief at the Sacramento Army Recruiting Battalion, which covers most of Northern California. "We're short by about half," he said. How vexing is the task? On Monday the U.S. Army increased the maximum age for new recruits for the Army-Reserve and National Guard five years to 39. Still, most military branches focus their recruitment efforts on high school and college campuses, where they have access to students and the authority to obtain personal information on them. The federal No Child Left Behind Act dictates that military recruiters be given access to all public high school campuses and their students' contact information. A student's parent or guardian can request that their son's or daughter's records not be released to military recruiters. Recruitment on the coast hasn't been pursued as vigorously as in the more populated areas, but recruiters do make their presence known at least a few times a year. Recruiters have come to Half Moon Bay High School three times this academic year, and usually come an average of once per quarter, Principal Sue Million said. The campus is made available to military recruiters at lunchtime, she said. "We look at the military as a post-secondary career opportunity," Million said. "We are looking for individuals or organizations who can provide careers for our students." Student interest in the military has been rather steady for the past five to seven years, said Ken Church, director of counseling at the high school. When military recruiters come they're usually competing with representatives from colleges, businesses, the Peace Corps and other post-graduation possibilities, Million said. The attention sometimes pays off for recruiters. "Over the last three years that I've been there, three people have joined. It's pretty much been one a year," said Aaron Bennett, a local Air Force recruiter. "Believe me, the military is doing everything they can to have a presence on campus," Church said. "They do come, it's not something that we necessarily support," he added. Recruitment efforts on the South Coast, meanwhile, seem to be nonexistent. "We don't have much activity actually," said Amy Wooliever, principal at Pescadero High School. She said recruiters have stopped by from time to time, but she couldn't recall the last time they came to the small school. A sort of counter effort has blossomed as well. Some on the coast think students should have similar access to anti-war views before enlisting. "We have a right to be on campus," said Jim Haber, director of War Resisters League West. Anti-war groups have not been allowed in Coastside schools since the Iraq war began. "If recruiters are there, counter recruiters have to have equal access," Haber said. The organization tries to coordinate counter-recruiting efforts to coincide with military recruitment at schools. "As counter recruiters we won't just say, 'don't go into the military,'" he said. Haber's goal is to present first-hand accounts from soldiers who served in Iraq and developed an opposition to the war. "I think it's got to be people coming back from the war, sharing their experiences," he said. "They de-emphasize the killing," Haber said. Local military recruiters and spokesmen routinely avoid questions about the war's effect on recruiting. Whatever the reason, recruitment numbers are down. The Sacramento Army Recruiting Battalion had hoped to sign 1,044 recruits - including reservists - by March 15 of this year. The battalion had only enlisted 495. Home