Between fiscal 2004 and 2005 the number of allegations and recruiter violations identified by the military services increased from 4,400 to 6,500 and criminal violations more than doubled from 30 to nearly 70 cases, but the Pentagon is not even in a position to ensure Congress that it knows the full extent of the irregularities, the Government Accountability Office has said.
It said the Defense Department needs to recruit several hundred thousand individuals each year to maintain an all-volunteer force, but that since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, several components have missed recruiting goals and some recruiters have reportedly resorted to overly aggressive tactics.
DoD and the services have limited visibility over the extent of recruiter irregularities, according to GAO-06-846.
It said DoD has lacks an oversight framework that includes guidance requiring the services to maintain and report data on recruiter irregularities as well as criteria for characterizing irregularities and establishing common terminology, and is said the services do not track all allegations of recruiter wrongdoing.
Recruiting officials say ongoing hostilities in Iraq and a low unemployment rate has made it difficult to keep up with quotas, according to GAO.
Further, it said performance evaluations and reward systems for recruiters are based on the number of contracts they write for applicants, rather than basic training attrition rates. The Marine Corps is the only service to evaluate recruiters based on the successful completion of basic training, something DoD agreed is a good idea but has not required other components to do.