Captain Kelly Shultz was 18 when she enlisted into the Army reserve. It was 1978 and Shultz was a freshman at Keene State College when she decided to join. At the time, there were no enlistment bonuses, no G.I. Bill benefits and no recruiters that needed to sell her the idea of joining the military.
"Some just have a strong desire to join," said Shultz, who participated in the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps at the University of New Hampshire.
Shultz served 16 years in the military before resigning her commission in 1994. Although it's been nearly 15 years since she's been out of the military, Shultz still remembers the "little white lie" her recruiter told her when she was preparing to enlist.
"He told me there were individual rooms, like college dorms," said Shultz. "When I got [to basic] there were big open barracks like I had seen in the movies, and open bathrooms too."
With the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq still continuing, the information recruiters give and withhold from recruits has become more important. It's no longer uncomfortable living quarters at stake - it's lives.
At the Dover Recruiting Station, Staff Sgt. Joshua Smith takes his job as a recruiter seriously.
"I can't speak for other stations or areas but I can speak for the Dover station," said Smith, who usually recruits one or two people per month. "The recruiters around here are pretty blunt - we're not going to lie or not disclose things.
"We make sure to hit on the inherent risks and dangers of the Army."
The pressure of manning two wars has caused an age extension for those enlisting into the Army - the maximum age limit was 40 in 2006 and has since increased to 42. With President Barack Obama's increased troop presence in Afghanistan, and continued occupation of Iraq, deployment for military personnel is one thing recruiters can guarantee.
"Back when I joined, getting deployed wasn't in the future," said Smith, who joined in 2000. "People coming in now know with a certain certainty they'll get deployed."
Smith enlisted during a time of peace but has since deployed to Iraq. Such realities and repercussions of enlisting has become the focus of a new group at UNH called the Truth in Recruiting.
Derek Price, senior and member of UNH's Peace and Justice League, has taken up the campaign to alert people on the dangers of poor recruitment practices. The group has undergone informal training sessions that look at the information recruiters have been accused of giving out and the promises they've been known to make.
"I think people hear the name and think we're trying to bash the troops and soldiers," said Price. "We act as the ideal military recruiter and discuss all of the risks and benefits of joining the military."
The group is still under formation but has high hopes for its future impact.
"I'd like to see an open public discourse about the recruitment process; the ins and outs of enlistment and the real risks and benefits of troops going to war," said Price. "In a time of war, so much is at stake. Lives are at stake."
But going to war doesn't come without its benefits for those who do decide to join. The Army is currently offering up to $40,000 cash bonuses to those who enlist active duty. And for school, recruits are given 100 percent tuition coverage, housing allowances and money for books and supplies.
With such incentives, the morale of the military has morphed, especially since Shultz's days of service.
"Some are just joining for money and benefits because when they're getting called to serve they're coming up with a whole bunch of excuses," said Shultz. "I think they're trying to bribe them to join now."
Mike Martel, junior and Air Force ROTC member, admits to having joined for the benefits of the ROTC scholarship but is prepared to deploy.
"If I have the option to deploy I probably will," said Martel, a sociology and justice studies major. "I've been told the career I've chosen in the Air Force deploys a lot. I'm pretty sure I will deploy eventually."
The Air Force and Army ROTC in Zais Hall at UNH houses its own recruiters - but usually, as in the case with Martel, those who are interested come to them.
Nationwide, the ROTC program looks to recruit 4,500 cadets a year, of that UNH is required to recruit 19.
"We try to be good stewards and tell the Army story," said Army Lt. Col. Paul Webber, who has been in the Army for 23 years but has been at UNH for the past year. "We let the students know what their options are and a lot just want to try it out."
Webber's job at Zais Hall focuses only slightly on recruiting, as he also serves as a professor and department head of military sciences at UNH.
He described the way he approaches recruiting as ying and yang when compared to recruiter Lt. Amanda Ponn, a 2008 UNH graduate.
"Lt. Ponn tends to be more positive, whereas I'm a little more 'these are the risks,'" said Webber. "We're not going to sugarcoat it."
Different tactics are used to meet the needs of the military of the time but the primary objective remains the same - recruit as many eligible people as possible. And like other areas of the military, recruiting can be life changing.
"If a kid comes in who wants to become a Marine, or who just wants to serve his country, seeing that through to completion is very rewarding," said Marine Corps Cpt. James Colvin, who is stationed in Durham and is responsible for recruiting students in colleges north of Boston. "Having a Marine come up to me and say, 'You prepped me good, thanks for the effort,' makes it all worth it."
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