Local military officials say they do not see the controversy surrounding the war in Iraq impacting U.S. military enrollment, despite continuing political attention.

Enrollment has increased in the past year and continues to rise during the 2005 fiscal year, said Staff Sgt. Ken Long of the U.S. Army Recruiting Station, 228 W. College Ave.

Long could not comment specifically on the number of recruits received by the local station.

The U.S. Army recruited 77,000 people in its 2004 fiscal year. This year's projected recruits top 80,000 and officers at the station expect to meet that quota.

Long said he could not comment about potential recruitment problems associated with meeting the quota connected to the Iraq war. He added the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force reduced their numbers recently so the U.S. Army could see those military recruits coming its way.

Lt. Col. Daniel Miltenberger, Penn State ROTC Battalion executive officer, said the enrollment numbers on campus have been slightly down, but not because of draft rumors.

"No, it's not because of that," he said. "It could be because of the war, but I can't say I've seen a significant degradation of numbers."

Miltenberger said enrollment figures have been slightly down the past few years. "I don't see it as tied to any draft," he said. Miltenberger said he was sure ROTC could recruit enough people to keep enrollment up for the U.S. Army to reach its "mission." "I'm sure the Marines and the National Guard are feeling the effect," Long said, "but they're part of a totally different branch of the Army."

Gunnery Sgt. Samuel Shell, a recruiter for the State College Marine Corps recruitment station, 242 S. Fraser St., said the Marines haven't been feeling an impact.