Actually, all the armed forces have exceeded expectations:

Active duty recruiting. All services exceeded their recruiting goals in February. The Navy’s recruiting goal was 2,593, and it enlisted 2,696 (104 percent). The Marine Corps’ goal was 1,661, and it recruited 1,734 (104 percent). The Air Force goal was 2,353, and it recruited 2,375 (101 percent). The Army's goal was 6,000, and it recruited 6,114 (102 percent).

Active duty retention. All services are projected to meet their retention (reenlistment) goals for the current fiscal year.

Reserve forces recruiting. Only two of the six reserve components met or exceeded their recruiting goals this month.

* Army National Guard: Goal: 6,536 Recruited: 6,583 (101 percent)
* Army Reserves: Goal: 2,359 Recruited: 2,279 (97 percent)
* Air National Guard: Goal: 772 Recruited: 680 (88 percent)
* Air Force Reserves: Goal: 490 Recruited: 573 (117 percent)
* Navy Reserves: Goal: 874 Recruited: 710 (81 percent)
* Marine Corps Reserves: Goal: 546 Recruited: 469 (86 percent)

The guard has come out of a three year slump to enlist a record number of recruits--the best in 13 years.

A driving force in this year's early success, Guard leaders say, is that thousands of Guard members have now returned from Iraq and are reaching out to friends, old classmates and co-workers -- widening the face-to-face contacts that officials say are critical to recruiting. Guard members "are staying with us and want to fill up units with their neighbors and friends," Blum said in an interview. "Now that they're back -- watch out."

The prospect of serving in a violent Iraq is still part of the equation for potential recruits, and Army officials say more frequent deployments have hurt recruitment for the active-duty Army, which began suffering shortfalls last year. The Guard has tried to address that concern by establishing a rotation cycle of one year abroad for every five years at home, which lends more predictability to the commitment, recruiters and military analysts say.

"Fear of the unknown hurts people. We want to take away the fear," said Maj. Kristine Wood, recruiting commander for West Virginia. Since 2004, the Guard has had nine brigades deployed in Iraq and elsewhere, but that will drop to two by year's end, officials say.