Army Secretary Francis Harvey is fighting off the talk of a recruiting crisis in his service. Writing in the Washington Post on Oct. 21, Harvey said that the “alarmist rhetoric” surrounding the Army’s 6,000-recruit shortfall is much ado about nothing. He says the Army has exceeded re-enlistment rates—helping to make up for a recruiting shortfall—and the service is currently undergoing its most extensive reorganization since World War II, with more civilians holding jobs that soldiers used to, thus freeing more soldiers for the pool of deployable combat units. Critics recognize this, we believe, but they point out that the situation could foreshadow a “graying” of the land force.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
