Interest in military rises in response to attacks

Interest in military rises
in response to attacks

RED BANK — President George W. Bush has called it an act of war, and many have compared last week’s terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., to the assault on Pearl Harbor.

But as that Sunday-morning raid raised the ire in this country nearly 60 years ago, it also ignited a sense of community and a wave of patriotism, as has last week’s horrific events. And with the brandishing of flags and talk of war comes an interest in the military on the part of the community.

Red Bank is home to recruiting stations for all four branches of the military.

"Anytime the military is in the news, we see additional activity," acknowledged Staff Sgt. Patrick Murphy with the United States Air Force Center in Burlington, which oversees recruiting for all of New Jersey as well as New York City and Long Island, N.Y.

The Air Force offers an 800 number and a Web site for information and inquiries about recruiting. The phone line provided a recruiting increase of 58 percent, and the the number of hits on the Web site increased by 169 percent last week, according to Murphy.

But Murphy noted that about 58 percent of those calls were referrals unrelated to recruiting.

"We were getting a number of sympathy calls and people calling asking what they could do and where they could go," he said.

For security reasons, the Air Force closed all its recruiting offices shortly after the aerial attack on the World Trade Center, but when personnel returned, there were flowers, cards and notes left at the doors of many of the offices, Murphy said.

Staff Sgt. Vidal Garcia, with the United States Marine Corps’ recruiting office on Monmouth Street, said there has been a flurry of activity in the wake of recent events.

Usually he gets about three to four inquiries a week regarding recruitment, he said. Last week, from Tuesday to Friday, approximately 20 people came into his office looking to sign up.

"I would call it a significant increase," he said.

Interestingly, those coming in, Garcia found, were men in their 30s, beyond the eligibility age.

"We are seeing more mature people," Garcia observed.

The Corps age requirements are 17-28, and Garcia admitted he isn’t really quite sure why an older age group would be more inclined than younger people.

"Maybe a lot of people who felt maybe they should have done something before feel now’s the time," he speculated.

This development is not confined to just this area, noted Marine Corps Sgt. Chanin Nuntauong, whose office in Garden City, Long Island oversees recruitment in the Northeast.

"On the district level, we are seeing a slight increase," he said about recruitment in general. But, he added, there have been quite a few inquiries from older age groups, especially from former Marines who are still eligible to re-enlist.

Marine recruiting offices have also been fielding phone calls from veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War who are asking what they can do, Nuntauong said.

Sgt. Brandt Van Sollen of the local Army recruiting office said, "The impact has been minimal as far as recruiting.

"[But] it’s too soon to tell," he said.

However, in all likelihood, should the situation develop into a more offense operation, there will be more of an interest, Van Sollen said.

Currently one of the Army’s immediate major concerns is heightening security at all of its recruiting stations, he added.