STRATEGYPAGE ON TROOP RETENTION:

The U.S. Army, scrambling to maintain strength, are now making it easier for reservists to move over to the regular army. This is partly the result of commanders noticing that a lot of reservists are quite enthusiastic about being on active duty, and many are eager to stay on active duty. But by law, unless Congress declares a general mobilization, most reservists cannot be kept on active duty much longer. The maximum time a reservist can be on active duty for the current “emergency” is 24 months. The army isn’t saying how many additional regular army troops it is going to pick up with this program, but it will probably be several thousand, and maybe much more. An important aspect of this is that these troops have a lot of experience, making them much more valuable than newly trained recruits.

It’s interesting that retention seems to be going much better than recruitment. Perhaps the view of what’s going on that the troops get in the field is more positive than the view that potential recruits get from the media.