Military's recruiting woes worse than previously realized

[TheGunslinger]

Military's recruiting woes worse than previously realized; Concerns that Pentagon misled Congress
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Militarys_recruiting_woes_worse_than_previously_1117.html

A congressional report released Thursday that analyzes military recruiting and re-enlistment shows that the military has been failing to adequately fill many of its most vital combat job occupations for years, even as it is deep in enlistees for other positions, the New York Times is set to report in Friday editions, RAW STORY has learned. Excerpts.

The study, completed by the General Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, shows that 41 percent of the military's 1,484 job specialties have been consistently understaffed over the past five years, while 19 percent maintained staffing levels beyond what the Pentagon had authorized.

The report suggests that for the active-duty Army, the Reserves, and the National Guard, the recruiting shortfalls of the past year have been even more severe than the aggregate numbers imply.

The policy of overfilling positions while others languished, the report said, raised concerns about whether the Pentagon had given Congress an accurate picture of its ability to maintain the force it needs for Iraq and Afghanistan.

DEVELOPING TONIGHT...

[corkhead]

1. that's no surprise to me

let's see chimpy use some of his political capital to start a call up

[opihimoimoi]

2. All that Rah Rah talk he does will amount to shit

The boys know a bad deal when they see it.... Bushies war = BAD

[Selteri]

3. Uhhhhhh Duuuuh!

Like this isn't something we've been saying on here for the past three years?

[Oceansaway]

4. exactly !

[izzie]

5. I read this

That the monthly quota was not met so they called the quota a lower number so they would look better. Sounds par for this WH

[LSparkle]

6. Murtha made this point today ... "The Armed Services are broken"

I think his disgust at the mistreatment of the military by this administration is a major reason he spoke out so forcefully today. You don't bankrupt the forces you rely on to keep you safe; you treat them well and use them wisely.

[MercutioATC]

7. Great. I USED to be exempt from the draft. Now I may be first in line.

:eyes:

[lovuian]

8. I agree I think Murtha sees the Military has turned into some

other entity its not the same Military thatwas in WWII...

[saigon68]

15. Its been turned into a Corporate tool

For conquests for oil and other resources

[AndyTiedye]

9. It's Getting Drafty Around Here

[northzax]

10. this makes total sense

for the past decade, at least, the military has been using skills education as a recruiting tool. You know, join the Army, become a nurse, or a computer tech, or whatnot. Not one of those ads says "join the military, get a gun and hang out on the front lines in some gorforsaken country while people shoot at you" Those aren't really the career skills people are looking for (unless, of course, you're in Mergers and Acquisitions)

[Doctor_J]

11. Barb, Jenna, Prescot, the little brown ones,

all of Neal's kids with the hookers, Noelle, all the little Cheneys, Frists, Delays, all the service-aged kids of all the GOP congresspeople, then everyone who woted for Smirk. Problem solved.

[rainbow4321]

12. Army ends involuntary call-up of some officers

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/111805dnnatreserves.1b586d66.html

The Army said Thursday that it has stopped the involuntary call-up of officers in a certain reserve status, following complaints by some officers mobilized after being out of uniform for years.

The policy change affects an estimated 15,000 officers in the Individual Ready Reserve, a segment of the reserve that consists mainly of soldiers who left active duty but still have time remaining on their eight-year military obligation.

The 15,000 have completed their eight-year obligation but chose to stay in the Individual Ready Reserve. The IRR differs from other reserve categories such as the National Guard by not requiring regular training.

Under a new policy adopted Nov. 4, IRR officers can avoid being called to active duty, but only if they resign their commission. Previously, an officer could not resign once ordered to active duty.

[TheGunslinger]

13. Just saw that reported on RawStory

Here's the WaPo article to which they linked:

Army to Halt Call-Ups of Inactive Soldiers
Thousands on Reserve List Seek Delay or Exemption on Return to Active Duty
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/17/AR2005111701735_pf.html

The Army has suspended plans to expand an unwieldy, 16-month-old program to call up inactive soldiers for military duty, after thousands have requested delays or exemptions or failed to show up.

Despite intense pressure to fill manpower gaps, Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey said the Army has no plans for any further call-up of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) beyond the current level of about 6,500 soldiers. The IRR is a pool of about 115,000 trained soldiers who have left active-duty or reserve units for civilian life, but remain subject to call-up for a set period.

...

Officials said a year ago that they anticipated a similar dip into the IRR in 2005, but the Army is struggling to complete the first group.

"It's profoundly irritating to me. It's not good management," Harvey said. The Army said it has lacked resources to modernize its IRR record-keeping. Harvey said an initiative is underway to allow the Army to better track IRR members and how much time they have left to serve.

[shadowknows69]

14. they can still make enlisted men

pull 3 tours of this shit though. they must have tried to call up the wrong retired colonel or something

[BrotherBuzz]

27. Here's hoping this is good news for Tabasco

I understand he got called up from IRR status and was ordered to report in January.

[RamboLiberal]

16. NYT: Vital Military Jobs Go Unfilled, Study Says

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/18/national/18recruit.html?pagewanted=print

The military is falling far behind in its effort to recruit and re-enlist soldiers for some of the most vital combat positions in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new government report.

The report, completed by the Government Accountability Office, shows that the Army, National Guard and Marines signed up as few as a third of the Special Forces soldiers, intelligence specialists and translators that they had aimed for over the last year.

Both the Army and the Marines, for instance, fell short of their goals for hiring roadside bomb defusers by about 20 percent in each of the last two years. The Army Reserve, meanwhile, failed to fill about a third of its more than 1,500 intelligence analysts jobs. And in the National Guard, there have been consistent shortages filling positions involving tanks, field artillery and intelligence.

The report found that, in all, the military, which is engaged in the most demanding wartime recruitment effort since the 1970's, had failed to fully staff 41 percent of its array of combat and noncombat specialties.

Officials with the accountability office, the independent investigative arm of Congress, found that some of the critical shortfalls had been masked by the overfilling of other positions in an effort to reach overall recruiting goals. As a result, the G.A.O. report questioned whether Congress had been given an accurate picture by the Pentagon of the military's ability to maintain the force it needs for Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Kolesar]

17. Living in Mom's basement for another 4 years sounds more & more attractive

[Dhalgren]

19. Make sure that you have some really good escape tunnels...

[Lowell]

18. The military should not be depending on the Guard

and Army Reserve to fill these slots. They should have regular army in those positions and only when that is totally depleted should the guard and reserve be called on for help. They have tried to make full time soldiers out of part time reservists. The longer they drag this on the more I feel a draft.

[Dhalgren]

20. The Republican Moron Majority missed their chance to start a

draft. A couple of years ago they could probably have pulled it off and withstood the backlash; now, they couldn't even bring it up without being lenched...

[Lowell]

21. It is still a possibility

nothing much can hurt this lame and crippled presidency today. If the shithead in the white house decides to expand operations to Syria or North Korea then a draft is inevitable. If China decides to collect on its debt we are in even more trouble. China is building up its military and we are their largest debtor. We've been sold out to the highest bidder without a shot being fired.

[redqueen]

23. Sure they could!

Just allow another 9/11-like event and allude to Syria being involved (without actually coming out and saying so, of course). That'll get the hoi polloi all fired up again, and there ya go!

[DrDan]

22. those damned San Francisco liberals

If they would let the recruiters go into the elementary and middle schools, all would be well with recruiting

oh yeah - and need to lower the age of consent to enlist down to say 10-12

[catmandu57]

24. It's not only the quantity

but the quality of recruits they're taking. Murtha said yesterday that 20% od the recruits are in the lowest catagory 4? I don't remember the designation, that has to suck for morale, nor only are you expected to learn, but you have to teach the dim bulbs they need to make quota.

[PATRICK]

25. Wasn't this kind of obvious

Predictable before and observed with care in the cooked process here at DU. It is about as one should expect outside of the propaganda, which if abandoned along with other recruitment practices would naturally make the situation much worse.

It does not really matter how much in denial, how misinformed or disingenuous the House is until the GAO spills the beans, it is an inevitable process of degradation of the military not a surprising phenomenon. Only the fairy tales about Iraq etc. could possibly lead one to expect anything but the logical scenario. So THOSE are undercut too.

[rocktivity]

26. Candidate for this month's "You Call This NEWS?" award

TRANSLATION: Military's recruiting woes worse than previously ADMITTED.

This is no different from when they publish the unemployment stats, which have to be "revised downward" a month later.

:headbang:
rocknation