He ignores couples. Their minds are elsewhere.

He ignores the woman on a cell phone. People on phones don't appreciate being interrupted.

He ignores the young man who looked at him and almost as quickly looked away. Clearly not interested.

Workman stops when he sees another young man mopping the floor, a bored look on his face. After a brief conversation, Workman scribbles some notes and hands him his card.

"He's 20," Workman said afterward. "I asked him how long he had worked here and did he like what he was doing. No. Then I got his phone, a good address, where he went to high school, all of it. He's going to meet with me Monday."

Six days a week across the country, Workman and countless other recruiters fan out at malls, high schools, colleges and fast-food outlets encouraging young men and women to consider the Army as a career. They entice them with enlistment bonuses, college grants and the assurance of a job after school as part of their mission to meet the Army's goal of enlisting 80,000 recruits in the next fiscal year.

So far the Iraq war has not dissuaded young men and women from enlisting, despite ongoing insurgent attacks and mounting U.S. casualties. Just last month, at least 135 Americans died in the fighting, the highest monthly death toll since April.

"Last year our numbers started going down as the war approached," said Capt. Todd Zwolensky of the U.S. Army Recruiting Company on Armour Boulevard in Kansas City. "After the initial phase, it went up. At first we saw no change when the insurgency started in April. Then it went down as the fighting spiked. We're up front about the war. Nothing more we can tell you that you haven't seen on the news."

Iraq comes up a lot for Workman, who tries to sign up at least two recruits a month.

"They'll ask me, 'What're my chances of going to Iraq?' If a guy wants to be in the infantry, there's a higher chance of going. But they forget there's mechanics, cooks, legal positions that aren't in combat but support the guys in the field. You want to talk to them, see if they're qualified, see if it's a good fit, see what they want to do."

He noticed a young man walking by himself.

"Out shopping, man?"

"Yes, sir, you?"

"Out recruiting."

The young man smiled, walked away.

"You've got to take a temperature check," Workman said. "If they walk away, I don't bother. I'm the type of guy, if you want to talk to me, fine. If you don't, that's OK, too."

All branches of the military met their recruitment goals in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 except the Army National Guard. The Guard fell short by about 7,000, according to Richard Stark, who tracks military personnel issues for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

The Army has been stretched to its limit fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq while maintaining forces in the Balkans, Germany, South Korea and other countries.

To aid recruitment and retention, military personnel received a 3.5 percent pay raise this year in addition to an increase in the housing allowance. But the emergency "stop loss" orders have kept thousands of servicemen and women in the military beyond their retirement dates. Others have been kept overseas past their transfer dates under "stop move" orders.

Critics accuse the Army of preying on those with limited job options. It's a charge the local recruiter denies.

"Everybody says it's poor and minorities," Zwolensky said. "Maybe in other places, but not here."

Each year, Zwolensky's office recruits 350 to 400 men and women ages 17 to 34. Most are in their early 20s. This fiscal year his company signed up 352 recruits. Last year, 392 men and women enlisted.

"We get rich kids, ones you wouldn't imagine going into the Army," Zwolensky said. "A lot of suburban folks who're interested in special forces and officer candidate school. We've had a huge response from the immigrant community. East Europeans. North Africans. They want to join."

At Archbishop O'Hara High School in Kansas City, Army recruiters from the Grandview recruiting office recently arranged a push-up competition during the lunch hour to break the ice with interested students.

"How many can you do?" a student challenged Sgt. Steven Nimmo.

"Seventy a minute."

"A minute?"

"And I do them correctly."

Nimmo took the names and phone numbers of boys and girls who competed in the push-up contest. He would follow up later.

"I'll tell them they did a good job with the push-ups and they'd probably do good in basic training," Nimmo said. "I'll see what they're interested in, what goals they have and if we can help meet those goals."

Nimmo and his colleagues have a host of enticements to offer: up to $65,000 for paying school loans, up to $70,000 for college tuition, job training, world travel, health benefits and a monthly pay check averaging between $1,400 to $1,800 for new enlistees. The average bonus for joining is about $9,000 but applies to recruits with special skills and other qualifications.

Potential recruits must pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test, which is similar to the high school Scholastic Aptitude Test but more career oriented, said Staff Sgt. Dundeago Warren, a recruiter from the Grandview office.

"Every person who wants to join will know their job, length of obligation and their benefits before they enlist," Warren said. "The biggest hurdle we face as recruiters are all the myths about the Army. We're still human. We like to have fun. I like chocolate like the rest of you. Talking to us is like a job interview. It doesn't mean you have the job. We're not high-pressure salesmen. We don't make anyone do anything."

Despite the enticements, O'Hara student Anthony Boyer, 17, doubted he would enlist.

"The way things are going in Iraq, it doesn't look good," he said. "There's that controversy over Humvees not having enough armor. It's just hectic over there. Nothing's been resolved."

But Paul Nickell, 16, said he would consider the Army.

"Whatever I do, it will be because I'm patriotic," he said.

Zwolensky has noticed a distinct shift toward service to country as one of the main reasons young people sign up.

"It was moving that way before 9/11," he said. "They're doing it because they want to."

Critics contend that the Army promises more than it can deliver in an effort to disguise the drudgery and potential dangers a soldier may face.

"They try to sell this otherwise undesirable lifestyle, so they push benefits," said Christopher White, a former Marine and president of the Kansas chapter of Veterans for Peace. He also was a recruiter assistant for two months. "They say they can pay for your college. An 18-year-old can apply for grants and get the same amount of money. Unless you have all the facts, you need to step back and take a hard look at what they're offering."

Capt. Brian Kastning of the U.S. Army Recruiting Company in Overland Park doesn't take the criticism personally. He considers it part of a soldier's responsibility to protect freedom of speech.

"Our job is similar to sales objectives," he says. "The best thing a recruiter can do is tell their story. Sell themselves and the experience."

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