Air Force reaches recruiting goal Published Aug. 22, 2003 RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- The Air Force reached its enlisted-contract goal Aug. 22 with the signing of its 37,000th enlistment contract. More than 32,000 people entered basic military training since Sept. 30. The Air Force now has enough contracts to meet its goal for the fiscal year and has for the past four years, according to officials. “I salute our recruiters who are working hard to recruit the country’s best and brightest,” said Brig. Gen. Edward A. Rice Jr., Air Force Recruiting Service commander. “We are committed to recruiting a diverse, high-quality volunteer force that is representative of the country it serves.”The Air Force is not only doing well enlisting airmen, the service is also doing well commissioning officers into critical career fields, according to officials. “The Air Force is having a banner year recruiting engineers, scientists and weather officers,” said Col. Gary Kirk, recruiting service’s operations division chief. “The last year that compares with this year’s success was 1991, and we are already postured for another strong year next year.”Although the Air Force is having a great recruiting year, it is still hiring, Kirk said. It needs hundreds of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and aircraft mechanics, as well as people qualified for special operations, such as pararescue and combat control.According to Kirk, the Air Force also maintained its standard of 99 percent of recruits being high school graduates.Enlisted airmen earn 12 to 72 accredited hours through their Air Force training, putting them on track to earn an associates degree in one of more than 60 fields of study from the Community College of the Air Force.“It’s no wonder that … one of the top reasons people join the Air Force is for the opportunity to further their education,” Rice said.