Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Philadelphia Inquirer
October 12, 2008
By Edward Colimore, Inquirer Staff Writer
Wearing an Army T-shirt and hat and carrying a small bag of belongings, 18-year-old Mike Monacelli was ready to take a big step in his life: enlisting in the military.
He had planned this day since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, said his mother, Julie, 45, as the two walked to the Army Experience Center at Franklin Mills Mall in Northeast Philadelphia.
Next stop was a swearing-in ceremony and physical at Fort Dix. The Somerton youth must still finish high school before heading to basic training in July.
"This is what I want to do," said Monacelli, whose late father also served in the Army.
He is one of tens of thousands of men and women who have volunteered over the last year to serve in the Army, which announced yesterday that it had exceeded its national recruitment goals. The Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force also reached their goals.
But the Army has not attracted enough recruits like Monacelli from the Philadelphia area and most of New Jersey, which have "the lowest propensity toward military service in the nation," a top recruiting official said.
In fiscal 2008, the service signed up 64 percent of the number it was seeking in the Philadelphia region for its regular active-duty force and about 64 percent of the number for the Reserve.
And in an area of New Jersey that includes all but the northernmost counties, it recruited about 77 percent of the number it was seeking for the active-duty service and 69 percent of those being sought for the Reserve.
The Army is not giving up without a fight, though. It's mounted a full public-relations offensive across Philadelphia and New Jersey that has included overnight field trips for local teachers to military bases so they'll encourage students to see the military as a career path. Two of 27 teachers who went on a July visit to Fort Bragg, N.C., expressed an interest in enlisting.
The Army's effort also involves visits by soldiers to 600 high schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, tutoring for students to improve academic standing, and high-profile athletic events, such as the Army All-American Bowl high school football game set for Jan. 3.
But the Army's most dramatic initiative is the new $12 million, one-of-a-kind Army Experience Center at Franklin Mills Mall, where visitors use high-tech gadgetry, including touch-screen computers, a full-size Humvee and two massive helicopter simulators, to learn about career opportunities.
"I can't explain the culture of New Jersey and the Greater Philadelphia area," said Lt. Col. Ron Tuczak, commander of the Mid-Atlantic Recruiting Battalion at the Naval Air Engineering Station at Lakehurst. "New York, Chicago and Los Angeles are all challenges as well.
"There's no military or Army base here - and 30 percent of the soldiers who enlist live within 50 miles of an Army base. Fort Dix is here, but it's a small Reserve base."
The Army Experience Center, which opened Aug. 29, tries to fill the vacuum, giving people "an awareness of the Army," said Tuczak, 43, of Medford Lakes. "It helps get rid of preconceived notions and helps people learn all about Army careers."
The center could be the prototype for other Army Experience Centers in the country and was located in Philadelphia "because it is the cradle of liberty and because of the growing gap between those who have served and those who have not served," said Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, who heads the Army Accessions Command, which includes the Army Recruiting Command.
"We put this in to reconnect with the people because of the recruitment challenges in the area for the Army."
Recruiters face many obstacles.
"A lot of young people are interested, but their parents don't want them to serve," said Freakley. "And there's the war, which has also been a barrier."
The three M's - medical, mental and moral, as the Army describes them - remain a problem, too, especially at a time when the bar for service has been raised. Today, only three of 10 Americans ages 17 to 24 are qualified, said Freakley.
Many lack a high school diploma or general equivalency diploma. Other prospective recruits have weight problems, asthma, or other health issues. And some have moral challenges, including drug use. One in four tested positive for drugs recently at a recruiting station in Newark, N.J., Tuczak said.
"A lot of people think the Army is made up of the disadvantaged, and that they are uneducated," said Freakley. "But that's not true. The Army really comes from the middle and upper class, and the people in it are extremely well-educated."
Freakley briefly left his command at Fort Monroe, Va., for Philadelphia this month to help kick off the All-American Bowl selection tour, where hundreds of high school players are chosen for east and west teams. The game is another way the Army promotes itself in the community.
But the Army Experience Center is the service's most recent and ambitious initiative. It's equipped with Xbox 360s, computers for gaming, large-screen TVs for watching sports, and high-tech simulators. All of it is free.
"Our goal is not to recruit," said Capt. Jared Auchey, commander of the 22 soldiers manning the center. "We're here to educate and inform people about the Army."
About 2,200 people have registered at the center over the six weeks since it opened.
"If we do our job well here, the Army may want to open others like this," said Al Flood, a former Army helicopter pilot and director of operations at the center, which has about 20 civilian employees.
Philadelphia officers in the Police Athletic League tried their hand last week at the Black Hawk helicopter simulator and were amazed at the realistic battle simulation.
"I come here all the time," said Gumersindo Vidot, a 26-year-old Northeast Philadelphia resident who is planning to enter the Army. "I want to get a good career I can take outside - maybe repairing helicopters."
Monacelli had already made his decision to enter the military when he first visited the center but found his choice reinforced by what he saw. He spent time there plotting his career and using the simulators.
"I'm proud of him," said his mother. "If not for children like mine, where would this country be?"
October 12, 2008
By Edward Colimore, Inquirer Staff Writer
Wearing an Army T-shirt and hat and carrying a small bag of belongings, 18-year-old Mike Monacelli was ready to take a big step in his life: enlisting in the military.
He had planned this day since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, said his mother, Julie, 45, as the two walked to the Army Experience Center at Franklin Mills Mall in Northeast Philadelphia.
Next stop was a swearing-in ceremony and physical at Fort Dix. The Somerton youth must still finish high school before heading to basic training in July.
"This is what I want to do," said Monacelli, whose late father also served in the Army.
He is one of tens of thousands of men and women who have volunteered over the last year to serve in the Army, which announced yesterday that it had exceeded its national recruitment goals. The Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force also reached their goals.
But the Army has not attracted enough recruits like Monacelli from the Philadelphia area and most of New Jersey, which have "the lowest propensity toward military service in the nation," a top recruiting official said.
In fiscal 2008, the service signed up 64 percent of the number it was seeking in the Philadelphia region for its regular active-duty force and about 64 percent of the number for the Reserve.
And in an area of New Jersey that includes all but the northernmost counties, it recruited about 77 percent of the number it was seeking for the active-duty service and 69 percent of those being sought for the Reserve.
The Army is not giving up without a fight, though. It's mounted a full public-relations offensive across Philadelphia and New Jersey that has included overnight field trips for local teachers to military bases so they'll encourage students to see the military as a career path. Two of 27 teachers who went on a July visit to Fort Bragg, N.C., expressed an interest in enlisting.
The Army's effort also involves visits by soldiers to 600 high schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, tutoring for students to improve academic standing, and high-profile athletic events, such as the Army All-American Bowl high school football game set for Jan. 3.
But the Army's most dramatic initiative is the new $12 million, one-of-a-kind Army Experience Center at Franklin Mills Mall, where visitors use high-tech gadgetry, including touch-screen computers, a full-size Humvee and two massive helicopter simulators, to learn about career opportunities.
"I can't explain the culture of New Jersey and the Greater Philadelphia area," said Lt. Col. Ron Tuczak, commander of the Mid-Atlantic Recruiting Battalion at the Naval Air Engineering Station at Lakehurst. "New York, Chicago and Los Angeles are all challenges as well.
"There's no military or Army base here - and 30 percent of the soldiers who enlist live within 50 miles of an Army base. Fort Dix is here, but it's a small Reserve base."
The Army Experience Center, which opened Aug. 29, tries to fill the vacuum, giving people "an awareness of the Army," said Tuczak, 43, of Medford Lakes. "It helps get rid of preconceived notions and helps people learn all about Army careers."
The center could be the prototype for other Army Experience Centers in the country and was located in Philadelphia "because it is the cradle of liberty and because of the growing gap between those who have served and those who have not served," said Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, who heads the Army Accessions Command, which includes the Army Recruiting Command.
"We put this in to reconnect with the people because of the recruitment challenges in the area for the Army."
Recruiters face many obstacles.
"A lot of young people are interested, but their parents don't want them to serve," said Freakley. "And there's the war, which has also been a barrier."
The three M's - medical, mental and moral, as the Army describes them - remain a problem, too, especially at a time when the bar for service has been raised. Today, only three of 10 Americans ages 17 to 24 are qualified, said Freakley.
Many lack a high school diploma or general equivalency diploma. Other prospective recruits have weight problems, asthma, or other health issues. And some have moral challenges, including drug use. One in four tested positive for drugs recently at a recruiting station in Newark, N.J., Tuczak said.
"A lot of people think the Army is made up of the disadvantaged, and that they are uneducated," said Freakley. "But that's not true. The Army really comes from the middle and upper class, and the people in it are extremely well-educated."
Freakley briefly left his command at Fort Monroe, Va., for Philadelphia this month to help kick off the All-American Bowl selection tour, where hundreds of high school players are chosen for east and west teams. The game is another way the Army promotes itself in the community.
But the Army Experience Center is the service's most recent and ambitious initiative. It's equipped with Xbox 360s, computers for gaming, large-screen TVs for watching sports, and high-tech simulators. All of it is free.
"Our goal is not to recruit," said Capt. Jared Auchey, commander of the 22 soldiers manning the center. "We're here to educate and inform people about the Army."
About 2,200 people have registered at the center over the six weeks since it opened.
"If we do our job well here, the Army may want to open others like this," said Al Flood, a former Army helicopter pilot and director of operations at the center, which has about 20 civilian employees.
Philadelphia officers in the Police Athletic League tried their hand last week at the Black Hawk helicopter simulator and were amazed at the realistic battle simulation.
"I come here all the time," said Gumersindo Vidot, a 26-year-old Northeast Philadelphia resident who is planning to enter the Army. "I want to get a good career I can take outside - maybe repairing helicopters."
Monacelli had already made his decision to enter the military when he first visited the center but found his choice reinforced by what he saw. He spent time there plotting his career and using the simulators.
"I'm proud of him," said his mother. "If not for children like mine, where would this country be?"