The army intends to meet the new goal mainly by retaining more troops rather than by trying to recruit more, they said.

With the US "war on terrorism" entering its seventh year, the officials said army recruiters face a mounting struggle to persuade young people to enlist over growing opposition of parents and other influential figures in their lives.

"The big challenge to us is, if influencer attitudes go south again in a major way, we will have trouble making it," said David Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.

Chu said surveys conducted by the military point to "a long-term diminution in the willingness of those who influence young people's decisions to support, to recommend, to counsel military service as a good choice."

Nevertheless, Gates approved an army plan to increase the size of its active force to 547,000 troops by 2010 rather than 2012 to ease strains on the force, Chu and other officials said.

Strains have grown so severe that the army's chief of staff, General George Casey, has warned that it is "out of balance" and unprepared to meet other contingencies beyond Iraq and Afghanistan.

In a September 26 memo, however, Gates stipulated that the army must reach the new target without lowering standards for new recruits or using special measures that prevent soldiers from leaving the service at end of their terms.

When Gates first announced plans to increase the size of the army in February, he made permanent what had been a temporary 30,000 troop increase in the army's authorized endstrength.

Another 35,000 troops were to be added to the active force over five years, increasing the size of the active force to 547,000.

The army also plans to increase the size of the army national guard and reserves by 9,000 troops.

To meet those goals in three years instead of five, the army will have to enlist at least 80,000 troops a year, "probably somewhat more," Chu said.

But he said how much more will depend on how well the army does in retaining soldiers already in uniform.

"If they do better on retention and do better on attrition, then they need fewer recruits," said Chu.

The army and the other military services met their recruiting and retention goals for fiscal 2007.

But the army in particular has been unable to meet its own quality standards in recruiting.

Only 79 percent of new recruits have high school diplomas, which is well under the army's goal of 90 percent.

The percentage of recruits that required a waiver because they did not meet moral, medical or aptitude testing standards rose to 18 percent from 15 percent in 2006, said Major General Michael Bostick, the army's recruiting chief.

Meanwhile, the percentage of recruits who drop out during basic training or before their enlistment term is up has fallen from 18 percent to seven percent said Bostick.

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