Major David Griesmer, a spokesman for the Marine Recruiting Command, emphasized that the elite force expects to make up the shortfall this summer when recruiting typically picks up and said the force is still shipping more new recruits to boot camp than it needs.

"But ultimately if we continue on a down trend at some point in the future it will affect shipping (new recruits to boot camp)," he told AFP.

Marine Corps recruiters came in nine percent below their April target for signing up new recruits, which was 260 contracts short of their goal, he said.

It followed shortfalls in March (two percent); February (six percent) and January (three percent).

The succession of monthly downturns were the Marine Corps first in a decade, said Greismer.

Even with those numbers, the Marine Corps was still only two percent behind its goal for the year, and is exceeding its year-to-date goal for the number of marines actually entering the service by two percent, he said.

"These are the toughest months of the year -- February, March, April, May. May is going to be challenging. And then June, July and August are generally more fruitful times for recruiting. We anticipate making up any deficit," he said.

Greismer said many young people were "in a holding pattern these four months, trying to decide whether to go to college."

"Many are focused on that senior graduation, and then people start to make decisions after they graduate in June.

"There is a war going on, the economy is improving, a lot of these factors coming together right at these four months. But we're at 98 percent so we're not too far off," he said.

US military leaders have warned of recruiting troubles ahead.

The army, which has had particular difficulty meeting its goal of recruiting 80,000 troops this year, said it did not yet have all its recruiting figures for April.

It fell 32 percent short of its March recruiting goal of 6,800 recruits for the active duty force, which followed a 27 percent shortfall in February.

That put it 11 percent behind its goal for the year-to-date through March.

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