In 1998 and again in 1999, the Army missed its recruiting goals. But the challenges then were modest compared to what the Army faces today, said Curtis Gilroy, the Defense Department's director of recruiting policy. Mothers, in particular, said Gilroy, "are very concerned about their sons and daughters joining the military and are not encouraging it."

The dimming outlook for significant U.S. troop cuts in Iraq means the Pentagon may soon face a difficult and politically sensitive decision: either make more frequent call-ups of some National Guard and Reserve troops or expand still further the size of the active-duty Army, defense officials say.

Here's how tough things are for Army recruiters in Arizona and elsewhere: Uncle Sam now wants you so badly he's aiming to up the ante to get you to enlist. A home-buying program for new soldiers, signing bonuses of up to $40,000 and finders' fees for troops who get others to join are among the incentives the Pentagon is proposing to sweeten the deal for new recruits.

The uniformed services have had to increase enlistment bonuses, relax eligibility requirements, and boost the number of recruiters. But this intensified effort hasn't escaped controversy. Now privacy advocates are upset that the Pentagon has contracted with a marketing firm, BeNow Inc., to collect and consolidate data about high school students as young as 16, as well as all college students. The data are for identifying potential recruits, and includes ethnicity, e-mail addresses, grade-point averages, subjects studied, and Social Security numbers.

A majority of U.S. soldiers in Iraq say morale is low, according to an Army report that finds psychological stress is weighing particularly heavily on National Guard and Reserve troops. Only 55 percent of National Guard support soldiers said they have "real confidence" in their unit's ability to perform its mission, compared with 63 percent of active-duty Army support soldiers. And only 28 percent of the Guard troops rated their level of training as high, compared with 50 percent of their active-duty counterparts.

Faced with nationwide recruitment challenges, the Army National Guard has partnered with Labor Ready, a provider of temporary jobs for unskilled workers, in the hopes the Tacoma-based company's 700 branches across the nation can help boost the dwindling number of recruits.

A team of Senate and House Democrats today are planning to introduce legislation today aimed at significantly increasing size of the U.S. Army. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services (SASC) airland subcommittee, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), a SASC member, and Reps. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.), both members of the House Armed Services committee, are pressing for the passage of the United States Army Relief Act.

The nation's governors voiced sharp worries Saturday for the National Guard troops they share with the federal government, saying changes caused by the huge demands of the war in Iraq need more examination.

The Army, which expects to miss its 2005 recruiting goal by about 12,000, already is falling behind for next year. The pool of recruits who sign up as much as a year before they report for training is dwindling. So far, 3,100 have signed up for 2006, according to Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Ky. The Army says it hopes to have 7,200 recruits in the pool by Oct. 1, when the 2006 recruiting year begins.