Imminent catastrophic failure was the mantra as manpower shortfalls were becoming a constraint on the army's ability to support national strategy. The United States Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) reinvented recruiting by developing a Contract Forward methodology -- a hybrid between a just-in-time and an inventory-based system. This methodology enabled the organization to better support national military security obligations while increasing military recruiting production by 17.5 percent and to completely eliminate a forecasted deficit. USAREC had cost-efficiency savings of $204 million out of a $1 billion program (20 percent savings).