(June 13, 2008)—U.S. Master Sgt. Manuel Alderete has been a recruiter for the past nine years and despite the an increasingly more unpopular war, he says recruitment numbers in Waco are already looking better this year than last year.

"As far as Waco's concerned we've recruited up to 70 young men and women in the Waco area and that's above average with regards to where we are in the time of the year," Alderete said.

Nationally, the Marine Corps exceeded its May recruiting goal with a recruitment percentage of 122 percent.

The Marine Corps is trying to reach more people by expanding the recruitment process beyond visiting high schools.

Now there are YouTube videos and a MySpace page on the Internet to reach more potential Marines

But some recruits such as Zach Alston don’t need the additional inducement.

He enlisted after his junior year in high school and now that he's graduated he's getting ready to ship out to boot camp later this summer.

For him it has been a lifelong goal to become a Marine.

"I have two brothers that were marines a grandpa that was a marine, one that served in Iraq twice,” he said.

“And ever since I was born that's all I've ever known, I've just wanted to be a Marine," Alston said.

In March and April, the Marines smashed their local recruiting quotas by nearly 300%

Alderete says that’s simply because people want one thing that they're guaranteed to get in the Marine Corps.

"We require quite a bit when it comes to the physical fitness, we require quite a bit when it comes to the academics so as far as our numbers are concerned the young men and women of today are actually looking for a challenge," Alderete said.

The Marine Corps is also paying closer attention to the training their recruiters receive and credit the seven-week training course developed as another contribution to the numbers it's seen in the past year.

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