After Lowering Goal, Army Falls Short on May Recruits -NYT

[Rose Siding]

Even after reducing its recruiting target for May, the Army missed it by about 25 percent, Army officials said on Tuesday. The shortfall would have been even bigger had the Army stuck to its original goal for the month.

On Friday, the Army is expected to announce that it met only 75 percent of its recruiting goal for May, the fourth consecutive monthly shortfall in the number of new recruits. Just over 5,000 new recruits enlisted in May.

But the news could have appeared worse. Early last month, the Army, with no public notice, lowered its long-stated May goal to 6,700 recruits from 8,050. Compared with the original target, the Army achieved only 62.6 percent of its goal for the month.

Army officials defended the shift on Tuesday, saying it was not uncommon to change monthly goals at midyear. They said that the latest change reflected the reality that the Army was not going to meet its May goal, and that it made more sense to shift some of that quota to the summer months, traditionally a better season for recruiters to attract new high school graduates.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/politics/08recruit.html

[Lerkfish]

1. if anyone in this administration ever told the truth, their tongues would

snap off.

this is, by far, the most heinous and evil administration we've ever had.

[xray s]

2. Here's a couple of young healthy Americans they should talk to

I hear their old man is a big fan of the war...

[TahitiNut]

4. I hear they're unemployed, too.

:eyes: :eyes:

[dean2016]

15. Kids shouldn't be brought into it

It is not the kids fault that there father the shrub is a war criminal.

Jenna Bush has said she was against the war.

To bring kids into it is wrong that would be like saying Chelsea Clinton should enlist because Hillary is gung ho for the Iraq War.

[Career Prole]

17. I just googled jenna bush against iraq war and came up empty.

Help an old guy out...when and where did she say that again? :eyes:

Hey, and welcome to DU! :hi:

[dean2016]

19. Jenna came out in 02 against Afganistan war

She came out saying it wasn't right to be dropping bombs on that country something to that effect. It was reported that she said that. There was never any quotes attributed to her saying that. I saw it reported in many places back then don't remember any specific source.

I'll look at google and see if I can find anything.


Thanks for the welcome.

[mitchum]

83. I challenge you on that BULLSHIT

put up or shut up

[bluestateguy]

28. That would be news to me (jenna against the war)

As an Austinite who is pretty plugged in to what goes on down here I must say I've never heard that. And even if it's true she chose to campaign for her father anyway.

[DenaliDemocrat]

30. Well If Hillary WAS gungho

Chelsea should. It's called putting your money where your mouth is. Jenna and Barbara lost the chance to remain annonymous when they helped daddy dofus's election.

[Al-CIAda]

54. Chelsea Clinton should enlist because Hillary is gung ho for the Iraq War

Not a bad idea. Go ahead Hillary, put your daughter where your mouth is.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

55. Somebody should have said something when the GOP was....

...attacking Amy Carter and Chelsea Clinton unmercifully. And I do mean unmercifully.

You reap what you sow.

[Toots]

59. Jenna Bush* campaigned hard for her father

She believed in him then so why does she not have the courage of her convictions. Hillary is not gung ho for this or any war and If we were truly at war I would bet Chelsea would be first in line and the Bush* twins still would be seen nowhere. They entered the frey when they actively campaigned. Now they need to back their BS up. You know "walk the walk" that Republicans like to dream of doing.

[libhill]

65. I seem to recall

That Chelsea was vilified by the Repukes quite a bit during the Clinton years. Maybe you should go tell the Repukes how "children shouldn't be brought into it".

[mitchum]

82. Both of those little bitches ACTIVELY CAMPAIGNED for their...

fascist father. And they will also inherit the spoils that their goddamn family has been looting from the public treasury for generations.
They can go to hell.

[K8-EEE]

86. They Are Adults Who Campaigned For GWB In 2004

And they are draft age, so, they can just go over and "support" his policies over there.

[Career Prole]

24. Hey look! They're going!

bush twins volunteer for war on iraq; other politicians' children follow
President George Bush announced Tuesday that his two children--twins Barbara and Jenna--have joined the Army in order to take part in the military action against Iraq.
“They want to help their country,” said Bush during a press conference. “They’ve heard me and my administration talk about how Saddam Hussein is a very bad man. A mad man. A sad man. Behind blue eyes. Won’t get fooled again.

“He has nucular weapons and sarin gas and anthrax and West Nile and nerve gas and all kinds of other stuff. And he’s going to use it to destroy the world, including the greatest country in history, the one that is closest to my heart. And after he attacks Israel, he might even attack the United States. Of America.

“That’s why my daughters have volunteered to join the Army. They’re going to put their money where my mouth is by defending this great land of ours. I’m so proud that they’re following in my footsteps by joining the military at their country’s time of need. But they won’t be defending the skies of Texas from the Viet Cong, like I did for a little while before skipping my last year of service. They’re actually going to be in Iraq, flying troop-transport helicopters behind enemy lines. Me and Laura call them ‘our little bullet-stoppers.’”.....

Oh wait...is that satire? :evilgrin:

[KansDem]

85. Photo here...

President's Daughter Takes Down "Terrorist"

Jenna Bush shows her martial arts moves on a friend as she prepares to enlist in the US Army. "I learned all this kung fu stuff," said Ms. Bush, "so I can go over to Iraq and kick raghead butt for Daddy!" The friend's remark about Jenna's martial-arts training? "She's tough. I never ask her to pick up the tab anymore now that she's been practicing her moves. Not that she ever did, anyway."

[nwliberalkiwi]

89. Whores of Death to Iraq

Send the two whores to Iraq and save the lives of two people. Just remember it's alright for your kids to die for these worthless pricks---how many kids from Congress members and the corrupt regime are in the service and/or serving in Iraq!

[TahitiNut]

3. Gotta love them movable goals.

Now, some wonk might expect the goals to actually tie into something larger like, say, a strategic objective like national security. But, no, we just move these goals 'cause they're not really tied to anything.

Wouldn't it be nice if their BUDGET were reduced by the same 25%??? Funny how we don't hear about that.

:eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: (Freaking jack-offs!)

[pokercat999]

39. I helped, you can too.

While at the local sub shop the other day I noticed a display of Army recruiting pamphlets. I helped myself to all of them and dropped them in a trash can on the way to my car. At least 10 or 15 pamphlets are now resting where they can do little harm, in the landfill. I'd like to see a grass roots campaign that hopefully spreads nationwide to remove and destroy any publicly displayed military recruiting advertising. Brochures are placed in public for anyone to take, seems to me like no law is broken if you take them.

[tanyev]

42. Grrreat idea!

I haven't noticed any in my usual haunts. (Maybe because I live in a prosperous crimson red area.) I will certainly be on the lookout now.

[libhill]

79. If you check

on the "po' folk" side of town, I'm sure you'll find thousands of them.

[tanyev]

50. Ooh! Just had a thought!

Don't throw them away--save them to hand out to any rabid young armchair soldier Freeper types you run into.

[libhill]

81. Nah

those types would rather run their mouths, and leave the fighting to some one else. Preferably poor minorities, whom they don't give a damn about to begin with.

[IChing]

5. In honest math they missed it by almost 40%

37.888 if you use the original 8050 number

[punpirate]

34. Umm that's what the article says....

You say enlistment dropped by almost 40%, the article says the Army reached only 62.6% of its goal.

Same-same. By the article's math, enlistment was down 100%-62.6%=37.4%.

Cheers.

[July]

38. Actually, it says it met 75% of its goals.

Then goes on to explain that this is because the target no. was reduced, and shows that IF the original target had been in place, the percentage would have been 62.6%. IOW, they're polishing a turd.

[punpirate]

41. I was referring to post suggesting that the math...

... was wrong. The math isn't wrong.

They may be spinning what the numbers mean, but the numbers aren't wrong.

Cheers.

[Robbien]

6. Why is the Army releasing these numbers?

Didn't the military say it had the right to keep it secret since it may hamper our 'war effort'?

Nice to see that 3,000 of our young men will not be used as cannon fodder this month.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

7. It's pretty obvious that they're building a case for the draft....

...first, it will be the Special Draft to snatch up people in specialized fields like medicine and communications. And second will come the all-out deaft, just like the draft that was conducted during the Vietnam War.

[Johnywolf]

9. Draft?

This war is unethical for draft. A lot of people probably are going to resist! There is a slim chance of draft happening anyway.

[Career Prole]

18. Won't need a draft once all the necrocons sign up.

They will...won't they? Any second now?
I think I like "necrocons" better than neocons...because that "culture of life" thing has worked out so well. :D

[Media_Lies_Daily]

53. If you think a draft is unlikely, then you're not paying attention....

...have you forgotten that the NeoCons are in complete control of the country these days?

[AndyTiedye]

12. The Special Skills Draft is Why They Give Tax Credits for Outsourcing

They don't want any static from employers when they start drafting techies,
so they have been offering tax incentives to throw as many of us out of work as possible.
With all that infrastructure in place, it has become really easy for
our employers to hire cheap replacement workers for those of us who are
still employed when we get drafted.

The only flaw in this plan is that the people they want to draft under
a "special skills" draft are precisely the people that any other
country would welcome with open arms. Can you say "brain drain"?
Every nation in the world needs more doctors and engineers.

[happyslug]

51. No, a draft would force Congress to really address the Cost of Iraq

And also force the Country to face the costs of the War in Iraq. That is the LAST THING THE GOP wants for once the Country starts to talk about the COST OF THIS WAR, support for the war will collapse.

Right now while the Majority of Americans no longer support the war, their also do not oppose it. Since this is the Situation in the US today, the GOP can continue doing want it has been doing in Iraq given the lack of opposition. If a draft is proposed to solve the problem of recruitment opposition to the war is dramatically increase. The GOP do NOT want that.

This is thus the Dilemma people in Government are facing, not enough people are enlisting to keep up the number of troops we need to hold Iraq thus their need to draft to get the needed number of troops but if their draft opposition to the draft will increase the opposition to the war and force the US to withdraw.

This is the explanation of the Governments actions since the Election (and in some ways since before the Election). Bacillary the Government does NOT want to withdraw from Iraq for any reason (if popular opposition at home) but the Government needs more troops. People are NOT enlisting do to the ongoing Combat in Iraq. Given the drop in enlistments to keep troop numbers up the US will have to draft. A draft will increase demand for withdraw from Iraq which the Government does not want to do. To reduce the demands to withdraw any draft will have to end early, causing the man power shortage to reappear.

The Neo-cons who control the Government are seeing their best plans go up in smoke and blaming everyone but themselves. They are inching closer and closer to making a decision they do NOT want to make, give up Iraq or go for a draft. Like anyone else facing an unhappy decision they are lashing out at anyone else. Thus you see the stupid statement by a Pentagon General that it is all parents faults that we will have a draft. Numbers do NOT lie and this is the problem the neo-cons are refusing to face.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

56. "A draft would force Congress to really address the Cost of Iraq"??....

You're kidding, right? What part of Congress is going to get the chance to do that? There will definitely not be any resistance from the GOP, and they will be joined by the "Blue Dog" Democrats who almost always vote Republican on major issues.

Take a look at the antiwar protests that took place during the Vietnam War. It wasn't until the late 1960s, nearly 13 years after Ike had sent the first "advisors" in 1954, that the antiwar movement really began to attract people from all walks of life. By that time, nearly 30,000 US troops had already died in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. If you apply a nine-to-one ratio of wounded-to-dead, we had also suffered about 270,000 wounded by the late 1960s, some of whom never left the VA hospital system. A large number of Vietnam War vets, non-wounded as well as wounded, suffer from PTSD, something that wasn't diagnosed as such for quite some time after the war was over.

Now let's compare the numbers above to where we are at this point in time in Iraq. If you believe the casualty numbers being released by the Pentagon, which I believe to be much higher than that being reported, we've lost more than 1,680 dead, and had more than 15,000 wounded in Iraq. Of those wounded, and due to the nature of the weapons being used, probably 25% will never be fully functional in any sense of the word.

If you use the Vietnam War as a yardstick, it'll take another 10 years before the current antiwar movement reaches critical mass and has the ability to influence the course of the wars being fought in the Middle East. By that time, we will probably have troops in Syria and Iran, and be involved in a major confrontation with China in the Pacific Basin.

[happyslug]

73. During Vietnam ending the Draft was the Positive Action.

Remember we had the draft (except for a brief period after WWII) since 1941 to 1972. Thus in Vietnam all the Pentagon needed to do was change its quota, Congress did NOT have to enact a law creating the Draft. Congress had to fund it, but that was part of the Budget so hard to end (In fact during Vietnam the Senate would defund the War, while the house would fund the war, this went on for years. During Reagan the opposite happened, the Contras were denied funding by the House and the Senate would add it back in).

Today, we have not had a draft since 1972, to get a draft CONGRESS HAD TO PASS A DRAFT ACT. Unlike the 1960s when the Draft already existed, Congress must do something. The Pentagon can NOT start the Draft with out Congressional action. When the Situation become dire in Iraq (Do to the lack of enlistments) the Pentagon will have to ask Congress for the Draft. Congress will not want to hear this but by then it will be clear that without the additional troops our army will be driven from Iraq.

It is at that point, where ignoring the problem will make it worse, is when Congress will be presented with the Draft. An attempt will be made to run it quickly through the System but you have enough opponents to force a showdown Vote. A showdown vote is the last things Congress wants on that subject.

Now I never said Congress will NOT vote for a Draft, but when it is voted for people will know who did it. It is that Fear that will drive the process. The choice of Congress will be a Draft (and hostile Voters) OR withdraw from Iraq. Now withdraw will can take many form. For example Congress may order an immediate withdraw upon defeating the Draft (something I doubt), or the Army can just dissolve do to lack of personnel (Something that started to happen between 1968 and 1972 in Vietnam) or withdraw as it becomes clear that is the only solution to save the Army (As Congress did in its resolution against any activity in South East Asia in 1973).

The key is NOT time, but what will force the People of the US to address the War in Iraq. At present it is just ignored by most people for their have no stake in it (They children are NOT in Iraq). With the Draft that will NO longer be the case, people will see that the Government wants THEIR CHILDREN TO DIE FOR OIL. As long as people can rationalize that the people being killed Volunteered for this, opposition will be muted (This was one of the Intentions when the Draft was Abolished in 1972). Once it sinks in THEIR CHILDREN will be the soldiers dieing opposition will escalate.

Congress will feel the heat and to avoid the heat will avoid the Draft as long as possible. Adopting the Draft will signal to all Americans that their Children are to die in Iraq. That Signal will NOT be well received and any Congressman or Women wants to avoid anything that gets sizable part of the populations against them.

Thus my contentions is that the issue of the Draft will be avoided as long as possible and addressed only in a Crisis. In the Crisis I just do NOT see Congress voting for a Draft even if it means the Army will be destroyed. GOP Congressmen and Women will try to shift the blame to everyone else including the Media for Reporting the decline of the US Army. At the same time avoid adopting the Draft.

The problem is NOT the draft per se, or pulling out of Iraq per se, but when it becomes clear to everyone that the choice is one or the other.

[Erika]

8. Young women are also being used as cannon fodder

See www.Idahostatesman.com for the 19 year old girl soldier killed in Iraq on the 5th. Look at her picture.

[Javaman]

13. One more kid that will never go to school, never get to fall in love...

never get to be cool.
-Neil Young

[grumpy old fart]

70. Keep on rockin' in the Free World..........n/t

[libhill]

68. I just wonder

if maybe this is a covert effort to appeal to the public - the military knows damn well that they are stretched to the max - they need to get the hell out of Iraq, find some time to retrench and regroup.

[VegasWolf]

10. One word, Doh! n/t

[Supersedeas]

49. lower that quota...lower that quota...until the public has not choice but

to notice.

But do it without notice.

[alfredo]

11. No wonder they waited to release the numbers.

[Javaman]

14. I wonder if even the Army is finally seeing the writing on the wall with..

this Godforsaken war.

I know, I know, God, country and the corp, but honestly, the military has to see this bullshit for it's deminishing returns. More bodies, more deaths, less secure, more violence...

[dean2016]

16. What I don't understand is why all the Hillary talk

This was an immoral illegal war that Hillary is very in favor of yet she is the buzz in the our party.

Hillary wants to keep us in Iraq and build permanent bases for the forseeable future.

We need to get out now that is the solution.

To nominate Hillary would be sending a message that we are fine with staying in Iraw with permanent bases.

[Erika]

20. Iraq deserves attention prior to the 2008 election

So why don't we look at these concerns?

[oneold1-4u]

32. Bases in ME

The US did need more control over their own military bases in the ME. Turkey and Saudi Arabia both control how the US uses bases there. They could never be used in any aid for Israel or any other country should they be attacked, if the attackers were Islamics. Oh, of course the oil was strategic also because SA could shut down their output and put the US military away in a day!
So think about it this way, if SA shut down the oil to the US for any reason, when your gas tank got to empty, that is where you would be!
The US military and government necessities use more fuel than the rest of the world furnishes today. So even if we opened up all of the US reserves, who do you think would immediately be rationed or denied?
Iraq was the choice because their reserves are second only to SA and the non Islamic nations around the world could be held up for Saudi Arabia and Iraq oil.
The ugly part of course was the very stupid planing and now stupid control all by a very stupid group who know nothing about military deployment. From top to bottom they never any one of them served and if they did it was minimal!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

40. She's not the "buzz" of the party.

She's the "buzz" of the other party.

[progressivejazz]

72. He said the buzz of OUR party.

Depends on which one he considers OUR party, doesn't it?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

87. Point taken.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

57. I don't think you're seeing things correctly....

...the MEDIA is reporting this so-called "buzz" about Hillary.

Questions for you:

1. Who CONTROLS the media?
2. Who gains by painting Hillary as a major supporter of the wars in the Middle East?

[neuvocat]

78. I'm sure the army has seen it long before we did.

[kineneb]

21. brings back the Country Joe MacDonald song

...and its one, two, three,
what are we fighting for,
don't ask me I don't give a damn,
next stop is Vietnam.

change location, same story, and they wonder why few volunteer?

[Erika]

23. Country Joe & the Fish?

Saw them once and loved them

[kineneb]

29. Yup. That's the one.

Too young to have seen them, but have heard the song many times. Also "Hip Deep in the Big Muddy" (Pete Seger) come to mind.


My world comes with an internal sound track. Explains why I am a musician.

[evolvenow]

22. No one should allow ANYONE they know to join. War is MURDER. If the

numbers are insufficient, they may be forced to end the war and shift to a humanitarian effort to save face. Hey, I can dream.

Seriously, no one joins, their illegal war will fall flat, until they roll out their robots.

[twenty4blackbirds]

31. "Sometime they'll give a war and nobody will come."

Carl Sandburg, The People, Yes (1936), US biographer & poet (1878 - 1967)
http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/141.html

[evolvenow]

35. Love it! "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. "

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992), Salvor Hardin in "Foundation"

What a great site, thanks and fantastic quote.

[twenty4blackbirds]

37. :-)

Lotsa good quotes, appropriate for many circumstances.

[lebkuchen]

25. The army missed its goal by 42% in April

I was expecting a higher miss, but 38% is about par. Will the Class of '05 make up the difference? That is the question.

[Erika]

26. 38% is the par

Where did you get those figures?

[lebkuchen]

63. The DoD is scrubbing the 42% missed recruitment, but look here

The U.S. Army missed its April recruiting goal by a whopping 42 percent and the Army Reserve fell short by 37 percent, officials said on Tuesday, showing the depth of the military's wartime recruiting woes.

http://www.parapundit.com/archives/002772.html

My source has been scrubbed VERY recently from Yahoo and a couple of other sites. Rove DOES work for a living, eh?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=army+April+enlistment+rates

[IChing]

67. I noticed that also, that past goals are harder to find on the internet

n/t

[lebkuchen]

71. I've checked the past goals almost daily

as I'm bad at using my "favorites." It's easier to google. Rove is wiping the old missed goals from the slate. That means, of course, that the problem doesn't exist.

The bushies want the Class of '05 in a BAD way, and will stoop as low as necessary to harvest it.

[bluestateguy]

27. Good

n/t

[Arugula Latte]

33. Hey Dubya --

Time to bring another fake turkey to the troops! You know, give people a reason to enlist to fight for your buddies at Halliburton.

Dying for corporate CEO largesse -- now THAT's patriotic!

[Demeter]

36. More Proof That Reality Is A Tenacious Bitch

that the Bushites cannot outrun forever.

[Don Claybrook]

43. After Lowering Goal, Army Falls Short on May Recruits (NYT)

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/politics/08recruit.html?

By ERIC SCHMITT
Published: June 8, 2005

WASHINGTON, June 7 - Even after reducing its recruiting target for May, the Army missed it by about 25 percent, Army officials said on Tuesday. The shortfall would have been even bigger had the Army stuck to its original goal for the month.

On Friday, the Army is expected to announce that it met only 75 percent of its recruiting goal for May, the fourth consecutive monthly shortfall in the number of new recruits sent to basic training. Just over 5,000 new recruits entered boot camp in May.

But the news could have appeared worse. Early last month, the Army, with no public notice, lowered its long-stated May goal to 6,700 recruits from 8,050. Compared with the original target, the Army achieved only 62.6 percent of its goal for the month.

(more)

[CRK7376]

44. Sucks to be a Recruiter

right now. I sure don't want any of them contacting my kids. I've asked my school system and son's high school to remove my son from any recruiter access roster that the school system provides to the military. I serious doubt my kids will want to join the military. I've been in the Army for over 25 years and seriously doubt the kids will want to follow in my footsteps. Thanks to Shrub, our military is suffering back to back to back deployments into combat zones. Most families don't want their sons and daughters in the service during a war. I sure don't want mine in the military....Hello Selective Service, are you out there?

[Robb]

45. So they held back May's info to lower the goal?

Wow. That worked. :eyes:

[Coventina]

46. I've asked it before and I'll keep on asking.....

WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE YOUNG REPUBLICANS?!?!?!??!?

[TomClash]

47. You can keep asking the question

but you'll never get an answer.

[libhill]

69. Well, Buffy and Duffy and J.B. Jr.

are all attending Harvard Law, don't you know. I'm sure they'd be happy to do their duty, but they "have other commitments". Just like Chenney had.

[leftyclimber]

48. What amazes me

is that 5,000 DID enlist.

They must have felt they had no other options, is all I can figure. Especially since I doubt they were Young Republicans.

[happyslug]

52. 5000 at reduced level of quality

One of the ways the Pentagon has meet its "goals" over the last year is to reduce its minimal requirements. It is permitting in fatter people, lower test scores people and more High School Drop outs. All of these people have higher wash out levels in Boot Camps (Which has also reduce their requirements do to the shortage of enlistees). Thus while you may have on 62% of the original number of recruits, you may only have 50% (or less) of the original number of higher quality recruits (Non-over weight people, High School grads and people who scored medium to high on the Army Battery).

Now I Suspect the number of Recruits to decease. The Army has an early entry system, you enlist in November don't go till June when you Graduate. Most of these recruits were counted earlier i.e. in November when their enlisted NOT in June when they go off to boot camp. I also suspect the recruiters are looking for recruits in Mexico and other countries south of the Border (A few years ago I read that Russians were the third largest group of foreigners in the US, a figure I suspect has dropped since 9/11 and the war in Iraq). Thus the 5000 may not be all Americans. A good many of them may be foreign mercenaries (as that term should be used).

My point is 5000 enlistees does not mean 5000 AMERICAN SOLDIERS in three months. Many will fail to get through Boot Camp, many are foreigners, many will NOT survive in the Army to get to Iraq (Desertion, kick out for other reasons). This is as much of the problem as is the fact that only 5000 people enlisted in may 2005.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

58. If the Army is reducing their entry requirements, doesn't it stand to....

...reason that the Army will also pull back on their requirements to get through Boot Camp? Won't that increase the liklihood that just about all of the 5000 who enlist will make it through Boot Camp?

And yes, wherever there is very high unemployment in the country, we will find military recruiters in droves.

Were you aware that's what happened during the Vietnam War?

[happyslug]

66. During the height of Vietnam the US was in its longest boom ever

The Clinton Boom might have outlasted it, but if you remember Reagan's and Bush Administration claim of "Longest Peacetime boom" that was to get around Kennedy's and Johnstown Boom of the 1960s which was the longest economic expansion in US History and to ignore that the the Kennedy/Johnstown Boom did more for the lower income people than did the Reagan/Bush expansion.

Furthermore during Vietnam we had something called the "Draft" and one way around the "Draft" was to enlist and select the service you wanted to be in (My older brother did this and served 4 years in the US Navy). Thus low income people tried to get into the Air Force and Navy during Vietnam to avoid the Infantry one would be drafted into. Air Force and Navy Recruiters would emphasis this during that time period.

As Vietnam ended and we went into both a Recession under Nixon and the end of the Draft, recruiters had to do more work and the quality of soldiers of that time period stayed down for years after the fall of Saigon. The hard times of the 1970s AND that the Vietnam war was over permitted recruiters to get more recruits, but only after the end of the War in Vietnam. While Vietnam was still being fought, even in job poor sections of the country recruiters had a hard time getting recruits for the young men had options (i.e. enlist into the Navy and Air Force).

As I said in my previous thread, not only has the quality of the recruit gone down, so has the quality coming out of boot camp (not in those words but that I said as to boot camps i.e. what is coming out of Boot camps is NOT the same "product" that come out pre-Iraqi war).

Now I also said I suspect more rejects from Boot Camp do to the lower level of Recruits, but many people who would have washed out from Boot Camp pre-2001 are now passing through boot camp. I expect the number of wash outs who should never have been enlisted to increase while the number of wash outs who would have been enlisted pre-2000 to decline (i.e. people who would have washed out in the 1990s surviving boot camp today while the number of Wash outs increasing slowly do to the increase number of people who would have been rejected in the 1990s).

[Az_lefty]

60. May Recruiting Goal Off 25 Percent

By Joseph R. Chenelly
Times staff writer

The Army cut its active duty recruiting goal for May by 1,350 recruits but still missed it by 25 percent.

The Army has stated since last year, and as recently as April 25, that it aimed to ship 8.050 recruits to basic training in May. But, without any public announcement, the service lowered its goal to 6,700.

It shipped a little more than 5,000, according to Army officials.

Recruiters would have achieved less than 63 percent of its goal had it not been lowered. Nonetheless, the active Army has now missed its goals four consecutive months.

Lowering the Army-wide goal did not lower individual recruiters’ goals in May, according to Douglas Smith, a USAREC spokesman.

The Army is still shooting for an annual goal of shipping 80,000 men and women to basic training by the end of fiscal year 2005, Smith said. The fiscal year runs from Oct. 1, 2004, through Sept. 30.

The shortfall in May leaves the active duty short some 10,000 recruits of what it had been aiming for at this period.

While the Army has not formally released the recruiting statistics, letting the numbers out now is a surprise considering the Defense Department announced last week that it wouldn't’t authorize the release of the numbers for any of the services until June 10. Recruiting numbers for the Army Reserve and National Guard have not yet been made available.

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-900996.php

*********************
This story is from the Army Times. Looks like they expected low recruiting numbers for May and lowered their target and they still missed it by 25%. The numbers here mean their really off 37%...does any one else feel a DRAFT????
:hide:

[proud patriot]

61. The DOD is hoping everyone is distracted ?

that's 4 months in a row , 10,000 new recruits short
for the year so far .

Scary times indeed

[libhill]

62. I do

The common perception is that a draft is unacceptable to the Republicans, but if this trend continues, there may not be any other alternative. Then watch and see how fast their PNAC scheme goes down the toilet.

[tabasco]

76. The neocons will have to make a choice soon.

Scale back military operations or start a draft.

It's anybody's guess which way they will go. They may feel invincible because they control all three branches and the massb media. I suspect there will be a massive propaganda campaign, followed by a trumped-up attack of some sort that will "change everything" again.

[libhill]

77. I agree with that, but

in reverse. I look for the "attack" first, then the propaganda campaign. I wouldn't be surprised if the next 9/11 is already on the drawing board. Maybe the "evil Iranians who hate our freedoms" this time around.

[IChing]

64. Another lie in the headlines, it is not 25%

closer to 40%

[wicket]

74. kick

:kick:

[RamboLiberal]

75. Reuters just posted new story today

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050608/us_nm/iraq_usa_army_dc_1

US Army misses 4th monthly recruiting goal in row

In fresh signs of the strain the Iraq war has put on the U.S. military, the Army missed its fourth straight monthly recruiting goal in May, while divorce rates for officers have surged, officials said on Wednesday.

The regular Army, in a previously undisclosed move, lowered its recruiting target for May, but still came up about 25 percent short of the easier goal, officials said. Had it not lowered its target from 8,050 to 6,700 recruits for May, the Army would have missed its original goal by about 37 percent.

Meanwhile, the divorce rate more than tripled among Army officers from 2002 to last year, Pentagon figures showed. The Army provides most of the ground forces in the Iraq war, which began in 2003.

<snip>

Curtin said the Army, which also missed recruiting goals in February, March and April, has not lowered its goal of getting 80,000 recruits in fiscal 2005, which ends Sept. 30. The Army last missed an annual recruiting goal in 1999.

"We haven't thrown in the towel yet," Curtin said.

[K8-EEE]

80. Well, Al Queda Is Probably Tripling That...

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

[mitchum]

84. It should be a lot easier to drive around my college town soon

[Supersedeas]

88. revise the history...make it look good...revise the history...make it look