An incentive pay program for Army recruiters has turned out not to be all it could be.

The number of high quality Army recruits actually dropped by several percent since 2006, when the Recruiter Incentive Pay Pilot Program was initiated. Meanwhile, the program racked up a cost of $3.7 million in its first year. At that rate, the recruiters should be able to snag jobs and bonuses at AIG.

The U.S. Army Recruiting Command created the pay program for recruiters from the Army, Army Reserve, and National Guard to reward them for exceeding recruitment quotas and to spur an "increase the number and quality of new Army recruits.

"Quality" for the Army is based on graduating from high school and receiving a high score on the Armed Forces Qualification Test.

While the goal sounds achievable, the numbers have proved it to be tougher than expected. The percent of "high quality" recruits dropped from almost 47% in 2006 to 44.8% in 2007. A little more than two percent may not seem like a glaring difference, but it translates to 1,300 new recruits that are considered less than average.

The U.S. Army Accessions Command's Center for Accessions Research evaluated the program's effect on the active Army and Army Reserve, and they weren't kind in their review. Evaluators found the program "did not increase either the quality or number of new recruits" and that it encouraged the recruiters to "focus on nonquality recruits."

In 1999, USAREC issued a report on Recruiting Incentive Awards stating the value of awards given could not exceed $75 for an individual or $250 for a team award. It also said cash prizes and savings bonds were not permitted. In 2002, a new report was issued regarding incentive awards that raised the stakes, allowing bonuses ranging from $100 to $8,600 per year.

In another feat of failure, the Secretary of the Army sent a letter to Congress in April 2006 estimating the incentive program would rein in 6,500 new active Army recruits, and 2,000 new Army Reserve recruits. The Secretary was wrong. In 2006, the Army pulled in 80,635 recruits and in 2007, that number actually dropped to 80,407 So what is it that warrants rewarding here?

Because of these findings, the USAAC's Center for Accessions Research recommended that the Army stop offering the incentive as of December 2007. One and a half years later, the program is is still up and running. Until December 31, 2009, recruiters can continue collecting unearned perks. 

So how has this program affected recruiter behavior? One story was released from Houston in 2008 of a recruiter threatening a high school student with jail time if he didn't show up for service, even though the student hadn't signed a binding contract.

The recruiter was caught on tape saying, "You want to go to school? You will not get no loans, because all college loans are federal and government loans. So you’ll be black barred from that. As soon as you get pulled over for a speeding ticket, they’re gonna see you’re a deserter, they’re going to apprehend you, take you to jail."

This may be an isolated incident, but it's not hard to smell the connection to the incentive pay program. In a written statement released from the Army, recruiters are not only awarded for recruits, they are also penalized for losses under the Recruiter Incentive Pay. "Recruiting personnel must not exceed the command’s loss rate in order to maintain their monetary incentive." That sounds like enough incentive

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