As the war escalates and dependency on the military increases, recruiters from the National Guard say they're concerned with their declining enlistment numbers.

"We've been through tough recruiting times before and we've always been able to rebound," said Lt. Col. Mark Eitrem, the director of recruiting and retention for the Michigan Army National Guard.

The war has especially slowed efforts to recruit high school seniors, Eitrem said.

"The parental factor is significant there," he said. "When they have children looking at the military, they watch the news just like we do, they are swayed by all sorts of impulses."

The Army National Guard is called upon to support the active Army. Recently, national guardsmen are being deployed with much greater frequency, Eitrem said.

"I suspect Sept. 11 was the reason for increased dependency on the National Guard," he said.

In addition to the recent effect of the war on recruiting, Eitrem said interest in joining the Army National Guard has been down the entire year.

"We expect to rebound as things stabilize and events in Iraq come to conclusion," he said.

But the Army National Guard has never been so involved in a conflict, so it's hard to say how quickly their recruiting efforts will regain momentum. If the 1991 Gulf War is any indicator, Eitrem said he expects recruiting to pick up two to three months after the war in Iraq is over.

Staff Sgt. Mauricio Lopez, a recruiter at the Marine Corps Recruiting Station at 507-1/2 E. Grand River Ave., said the war hasn't affected the flow of people through his office. He said about 10 people, through phone calls and walk-in visits, make their own effort to contact him in a typical week.

Lopez does the majority of his recruiting over the phone, by contacting people who've requested information via the Internet. About 40 percent of those recruits remain interested, he said.

Sgt. Jeff Janowiec, a marketing and public affairs representative for the Lansing recruiting station, said the Marine Corps has not changed its recruiting efforts or tactics with America at war.

"We're really looking for males from 17 to 24 years old," Janowiec said, adding recruiters also visit concerts and MSU football games to draw interest.

The U.S. Marine Corps has exceeded its recruiting requirement for the last seven years. Nationwide, the Marines need 40,000 recruits per year to maintain the required 187,000 marines in its ranks, Janowiec said.

"There are a lot of patriotic people who are stepping up to serve their country," he said. "It's wonderful to see the youth of America step up."

Advertising Assistant Professor Janice Bukovac said she's noticed more frequent Army advertisements with a more powerful message.

"I certainly think it behooves them to put up a certain amount of promotional material," she said.

"The Army in particular has been very successful with their 'Army of One' campaign, it appeals to self-actualization," she said.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks also sparked some Americans' interest in joining the Army, but that doesn't mean they've enlisted more officers, said Staff Sgt. Bruce Huffman, a spokesman for the Army.

"It ends up not really affecting our numbers because we're doing such a great job recruiting anyway," he said. "Recruiting in Michigan is fantastic."

Even if the war with Iraq caused more men and women to join the Army, the war will probably be over before they get a chance to fight in it, Huffman said.

"We're within 100 miles of Baghdad," he said.