Why the change of heart? The Navy is facing an alarming shortage of new recruits. With the economy surging and jobs plentiful, potential sailors are turning up their noses at military hardships–and meager military pay. A recent Pentagon survey found that only 9 percent of young men between 16 and 21 were likely to consider joining the Navy, the lowest among the four services. At the end of last year, there were 22,000 vacancies in the fleet. The shortages have started to affect readiness. Ships are sent to sea with empty bunks. Sailors’ work hours have been increased to make up for the missing deckhands. Some critical spare parts are in short supply. Scores of fighter pilots are trading in their F-14s for jumbo jets, lured away by lucrative offers from commercial airlines.
Confronted with all that, the Navy brass decided that being a few pounds overweight wasn’t the worst thing in the world after all. On Nov. 25, Navy Secretary Richard Danzig turned on his laptop and tapped out a letter to Pastuovic and the 547,000 other sailors and marines under his command. The cerebral Danzig (Rhodes scholar, Yale Law) had big changes in mind for the Navy. ““I’m pressing for us to invest more in treating sailors and marines as valued professionals,’’ he said. But ““we’re wearing ourselves thin.’’ Danzig ordered his admirals to come up with fresh ways to make Navy life more attractive to potential recruits. Already in the works: a host of creature comforts–weight rooms and more televisions on ships, better food and shipboard e-mail. Now the Navy is offering incentives for veterans not to leave when their tours are over. Sailors with critical skills can receive up to $45,000 in bonus pay if they ““re-up’’ for another stint. And salaries may also rise: Congress is considering a nearly 10 percent pay increase for the entire military.
But with the pool of willing applicants shrinking, the brass had to do more. Danzig ordered the Navy to ease off on enforcement of the service’s weight and physical-fitness standards, which force nearly 2,000 sailors out of uniform each year. Overweight sailors like Pastuovic can stay while the brass drafts a new, possibly less stringent, set of fitness rules. The Navy has also relaxed the amount of education new recruits need to qualify. Until now, only 5 percent of new sailors hadn’t graduated from high school. Danzig doubled the number of sailors who can get in without diplomas.
The changes have met with stiff criticism from some Navy quarters. The service’s ““old salts’’ complain that physical fitness is important. And Danzig acknowledges that recruits without diplomas drop out of boot camp in higher numbers. But the more forgiving standards won’t apply to the Navy’s special forces. Elite SEAL teams won’t be training on Twinkies–they’ll have to meet the same rigorous fitness requirements as before. Even so, Navy life today is generally not as physically demanding as it was in the glory days of ““wooden ships and iron men.’’ A growing number of sailors spend their work shifts seated in front of a computer screen. And, remarkably, a high-school diploma is often not required to learn how to operate some of the most sophisticated weapons systems in the world.
The Navy is taking its new look public with a slick, $70 million advertising campaign. Television commercials expected in the spring will tout the cool high-tech ““lifestyle,’’ and stress how fun Navy life can be. Will they resonate? The Navy is counting on it. They’ve assigned 700 additional recruiters to sign up new enlistees. But filling out the empty positions will take time. Meanwhile, it’s up to sailors like Pastuovic–who agreed to stay in uniform–to keep the Navy’s ranks from getting too thin.
