# Re-Entlistment Numbers

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-entlistment-numbers/256278>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 22, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-entlistment-numbers/256278 "2004-07-22T01:50:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-entlistment-numbers/256278/1 "2004-07-22T01:50:22Z")

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Has re-enlistment gone up or down since the Iraq War?

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**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-entlistment-numbers/256278/2 "2004-07-22T02:23:52Z")

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I think they’ve dropped. The military is issuing all kinds of “Stop Loss” orders to the soldiers, which basically say “We don’t care if your term of service just ended, you ain’t leaving Basra until we say you can.”

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-entlistment-numbers/256278/3 "2004-07-22T03:00:44Z")

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FWIW: [Army hits retention mark](http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=6167)

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-entlistment-numbers/256278/4 "2004-07-22T14:10:58Z")

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Which isn’t a lot. The military has a buffer on their count of new recruits which allows them to smooth out variations in the actual rate of intake:

> [@](#):
>
> In what critics say is another sign of increasing stress on the military, the Army has been forced to bring more new recruits immediately into the ranks to meet recruiting goals for 2004, instead of allowing them to defer entry until the next accounting year, which starts in October.

[Army to Call Up Recruits Earlier](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/22/politics/22recruit.html?hp)