Canadian Forces recruiting up

Maybe some people actually want to be soldiers.

Despite the recent spate of high-profile troop deaths in Afghanistan, the Canadian Forces say their recruiting numbers are actually up.

Five Canadian soldiers died and 13 were injured in four separate incidents last week, making it the country's deadliest week since military operations began in 2002. That brings the number of Canadians killed in action there to 24, with 16 losing their lives in the past six months.

Yet according to recruiters, the escalating death toll doesn't appear to be keeping people from signing up.

Maj. Andy Coxhead, public affairs officer for the Canadian Forces' recruiting group, says 17,000 people have submitted applications over the past six months...

Maj. Daniel Veillette, the commanding officer at a recruiting centre in downtown Ottawa, suggests the current operations in Afghanistan may actually be having a positive effect on numbers.

More people have felt the need to serve when Canada has engaged in combat in the past, he says, and that may be the case now...