The Department of Defense announced today its recruiting and retention statistics for the active and reserve components for the month of August.

- Active duty recruiting. All services met or exceeded their recruiting goals in August.

	Accessions	Goal	Percent
Army	10,492	10,050	104
Navy	4,090	4,090	100
Marine Corps	4,320	4,053	107
Air Force	3,167	3,156	100

- Active duty recruiting from Oct. 1, 2005 to August 31, 2006.

	Accessions	Goal	Percent
Army	72,997	70,200	104
Navy	28,499	28,499	100
Marine Corps	24,300	23,968	101
Air Force	28,256	28,124	100

- Active duty retention. All services are projected to meet their retention goals for the current fiscal year.

- Reserve forces recruiting. Four of the six reserve components met or exceeded their recruiting goals in July.

	Accessions	Goal	Percent
Army National Guard	6,527	6,518	100
Army Reserve	2,433	3,954	62
Navy Reserve	1,087	1,027	106
Marine Corps Reserve	845	838	101
Air National Guard	1,010	792	128
Air Force Reserve	848	849	99

- Reserve forces recruiting from Oct. 1, 2005 to August 31, 2006.

	Accessions	Goal	Percent
Army National Guard	63,025	63,240	99
Army Reserve	31,301	33,124	94
Navy Reserve	8,811	10,276	86
Marine Corps Reserve	7,886	7,799	101
Air National Guard	8,207	8,518	96
Air Force Reserve	6,803	6,606	103

- Reserve forces retention. For August, Army National Guard retention was above 119 percent of the cumulative goal of 31,599, and Air National Guard retention was 110 percent of its cumulative goal of 9,236. Both the Army and Air Guard are currently at 98 and 99 percent of their end strength, respectively. Losses in all reserve components for July are well within acceptable limits. The Navy Reserve presents a concern with its increasing attrition rates. Indications are that these trends will continue into August.

To view a fact sheet on who is volunteering for the military, click here.

Detailed information on specific recruiting data can be obtained by contacting the individual military recruiting commands at (502) 626-0164 for Army, (210) 565-4678 for Air Force, (703) 784-9455 for Marine Corps and (901) 874-9048 for Navy. The reserve components can be reached at the following numbers: National Guard Bureau (703) 607-2586; Army Reserve (404) 464-8490; Air Force Reserve (703) 697-1761; Navy Reserve (504) 678-1240; and Marine Corps Reserve (504) 678-6535.