2006年VOA标准英语-New Incentives Help National Guard Recruit

By Brian Padden
Washington, DC
24 March 2006
 
watch National Guard report
 

National Guard swearing-in  
  
The ability of the U.S. Military to sustain an all-volunteer force has been tested by the war in Iraq.  To maintain the ongoing¹ deployment² of 130,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq, the U.S. Defense³ Department has been calling up its part-time soldiers: the National Guard and the Reserves.  Last year military recruitment needed to replenish⁴ the ranks went down, but this year the numbers are back up.  VOA's Brian Padden reports on what has changed.    

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Joanna Pierce
  

Sergeant⁵ Joanna Pierce, a former U.S. Marine⁶, is joining the National Guard. "Honestly I miss the service.  I would like to come back, serve my country," she says.

Joanna is one of more than 26,000 new soldiers that have signed up with the Army National Guard in the last six months.  The Army guard is now optimistic that by year's end it will reach its recruitment goal of 350,000.  This is good news for the military.  For the past two years military recruitment was below average in large part because of the ongoing war in Iraq. 

Military analyst⁷ Michele Flournoy with the Center for Strategic and International Studies says it remains⁸ to be seen if this sudden boost in enlistment¹⁰ can be sustained. 

 
Michele Flournoy 
  
"The public ambivalence¹¹ about the war in Iraq has made recruiting a lot harder," she explains, "because a lot of the influencers as they are called, parents for example, they are saying to their kids, 'Yes, we want you to join the National Guard but not right now'."

Whether he is offering trinkets for push-up or a free college education, Army National Guard recruiter Sergeant Frankie Cross's strategy has not changed in the last year.  He admits the war has affected¹² recruitment but says interest remains strong among its key demographic: young people looking for direction, education and career training. 
 
 
Sergeant Frankie Cross, Army National Guard recruiter
  
"As far as the National Guard is concerned I basically try to tell the kids I am a strategist," he says. " I am going to try to put together a strategy for your future. So what you doing this summer."

High School student Javier Uribe says the war in Iraq will not influence his decision whether to join the military. "If there is a war going on, I would go to the war, whatever man.  I got to do what I got to do.  Know what I'm saying,"  he says.

Sgt. Cross says new financial incentives¹³ have helped.  Recruits can receive a bonus of up to $20,000 to enlist⁹.  And active duty personnel can make two thousand dollars for a referral. 

What hasn't changed, says Sgt. Cross, are the academic standards required to keep the all-volunteer force professional and effective.   "I look for kids who are bright and want to be here," he explains.  "Otherwise I am wasting my time and theirs.  And I may get them off to a unit where they might get someone killed."

In addition to financial incentives, Michele Flournoy says President Bush could speak out more on the duty of all Americans to serve in some capacity in this time of war.  "One of the things that has been missing in our recruitment so far is a call to service from the highest levels, from the President, from our other national political leaders," she says.  "There hasn't been a JFK (former president John F. Kennedy)-like speech, 'Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.'" 

But for now the focus on money and career training seems to be working. 

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

2 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 replenish   

vt.补充；(把…)装满；(再)填满

参考例句：

• I always replenish my food supply before it is depleted.我总是在我的食物吃完之前加以补充。
• We have to import an extra 4 million tons of wheat to replenish our reserves.我们不得不额外进口四百万吨小麦以补充我们的储备。

5 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

6 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 enlist   

vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍

参考例句：

• They come here to enlist men for the army.他们来这儿是为了召兵。
• The conference will make further efforts to enlist the support of the international community for their just struggle. 会议必将进一步动员国际社会，支持他们的正义斗争。

10 enlistment   

n.应征入伍，获得，取得

参考例句：

• Illness as a disqualification for enlistment in the army. 疾病是取消参军入伍资格的一个原因。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One obstacle to the enlistment of able professors was that they had to take holy orders. 征聘有才能的教授的障碍是他们必须成为牧师。 来自辞典例句

11 ambivalence   

n.矛盾心理

参考例句：

• She viewed her daughter's education with ambivalence.她看待女儿的教育问题态度矛盾。
• She felt a certain ambivalence towards him.她对他的态度有些矛盾。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法