Army Desperately Spin Doctoring Recruitment Numbers

When we last left the Army recruiting number spin game, the Army had abruptly lowered its monthly target from 8,050 to 6,700, then missed that new target by 25%, then lowered the target again, to 5,650, and finally hit that target with a confetti storm of triumphant press releases.

Yesterday the Army released new figures, and the Dubya Squad propaganda trumpeters at the Drudge Report and Washington Times jumped to their posts with their “hear ye! hear ye!”s:

The Army has exceeded recruiting goals in the first two months of this fiscal year, reversing a trend that had some Iraq critics saying the armed services branch was “broken.” …¶… The Army has hit its recruiting mark for six straight months, a promising development for the Bush administration. President Bush’s critics had cited the Army’s failure to achieve its recruiting goals in fiscal 2005 as proof that the war in Iraq is breaking the force.

A closer look at the figures shows that the mark that the Army “exceeded” this month and has “hit… for six straight months” was that doubly-lowered target number, not the original targets. Keep up the good work, counter-recruiters!

Thanks to the Festival of Frugality and The Common Room for plugging The Picket Line.