After more than 35 years, the US military has met all of its recruiting goals, as hundreds of thousands of American youths enlist amid an economic meltdown.

The Pentagon, which made the announcement on Tuesday, said high unemployment, which just hit a 26-year-high of 9.8 percent, as well as a multi-billion dollar effort to attract volunteers helped the recruiting.

Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy, said the “recession was a force” which allowed the defense forces “to be, for much of the year, in a very favorable position.”

The official also added that in the last fiscal year, the Defense Department spent some $10,000 on advertising, marketing and other budget items per recruit, while the Army disbursed more than twice that amount, $22,000.

He also noted that hefty enlistment bonuses “for the military's success” were also an important factor in the youths' willingness to wear the uniform, despite the near-certainty that they will go to war.

The military has not seen such recruitment since the all-volunteer force was established in 1973, after Congress ended the mandatory draft following the Vietnam War, during which the US lost more than 50,000 soldiers.

In recent years, the military, specifically the US Army, has struggled to fill its ranks, leading it to be much more flexible in enforcing its recruitment provisions, admitting more high school dropouts, overweight youths, and even felons.

However, during the current budget year, which ended September 30, the Defense Department brought in 168,900 active-duty troops, or 103 percent of this year's goal, while the National Guard and reserve forces reached 104 percent of the goal.

This brings the number of active duty members of all the US armed services to about 1.4 million, not including nearly 880,000 'selected reserves,' ready to be called up.

FF/MB