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• Mar 19, 2008 6:32 pm US/Mountain
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  Slow Economy Might Be Helping Army Recruit

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Slow Economy Might Be Helping Army Recruit

Contact reporter Rick Sallinger at rsallinger@cbs.com

DENVER (CBS4) ― More and more young people are signing up to join the Army. There are many reasons why individuals sign up, but in these tough economic times, the Army looks very attractive.

It started with a bang and was followed by something called "shock and awe." But five years later, the shock has worn off and the awe has turned into a grind. Recruiting offices like must fill the constantly needed boots in Iraq. Skylar Weber, 21, will soon be on his way to officer candidate school

"I believe in our mission in Iraq and we need to finish it, and unless people like me are signing up, that's not going to happen," Weber said.

A sense of "duty to country" is cited as the top reason for enlisting, but a struggling economy back home makes Army jobs look attractive. Cale Margheim, 40, lost his banking job and has a wife and child.

"They're supportive," Margheim said. "Of course they don't' want to see me deployed, but they are supportive of me."

The Army is meeting recruiting goals in part by offering big incentives -- up to $73,000 for college, up to $65,000 to pay off existing student loans, up to $40,000 in sign up bonuses and family medical benefits.

"I needed to get out of debt and I started paying for school," Army enlistee
Justin Owens said.

At the recruiting office in Denver, quotas are not only being met, but exceeded.

Capt. Chris Williams spent time in Iraq.

"Children would come up on side of road and ask for food and cling to us," Williams said. "The local villagers always wanted us around because it meant if we were there, the bad guys wouldn't be."

Five years after the first blasts, America is still around.

In 2005 the Army halted all recruiting for a day after CBS4 reports on how some recruiters were using unethical measures in order to meet their quotas. The Army insists recruiters are under no such pressures today.

The death toll of American soldiers in Iraq is 3,992. More than 29,000 men and woman have been injured.

The government says the war has cost the country at least $416 billion.

(© MMVIII CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)