While I doubt that many soldiers are choosing to reenlist just for monetary bonuses, even if they're tax-free, there can be no doubt that such bonuses are well deserved and needed. Those of us with friends and family fighting in Iraq know of the terrible hardships suffered by the patriots of these families. Sending a little extra money to these families will at least help to alleviate their financial suffering. While they would likely all strongly prefer to have their loved ones at home rather than deployed overseas, if faced with the choice of bonus or no bonus, they're going to opt for the bonus every time -- and they should.

Although the high reenlistment rate is certainly good news, the Army still has significant recruiting challenges. The Army still is two-thirds short of its recruiting goals for the year, which translates into a projected 12,000-troop shortfall. In addition, the reenlistments won't address some key personnel vacancies, such as military police and bomb-disposal experts.

I've been working with Army recruiting experts for 10 years, and I've always been impressed by their dedication and strategic vision. They know where their best soldiers come from. They focus on hiring the best, not just generating leads. They test and track the effectiveness of their advertising. They're not afraid to take chances and try out new ways of connecting with and engaging their target market, as seen by their use of pay-per-lead programs with job boards such as CollegeRecruiter.com and the training and battle simulation game on their web site.

The higher than expected reenlistment rates prove that the Army is taking care of its people. It just needs to continue to work to get that message out to those who are still candidates but who may be tomorrow's soldiers.