Stepped-up Army recruiting enlists many with problems

[unhappycamper]

Stepped-up Army recruiting enlists many with problems
By Bryan Bender
Globe Staff / November 27, 2007

WASHINGTON - Two weeks ago, the Pentagon announced the "good news" that the Army had met its recruiting goal for October, the first month in a five-year plan to add 65,000 new soldiers to the ranks by 2012.

But Pentagon statistics show the Army met that goal by accepting a higher percentage of enlistees with criminal records, drug or alcohol problems, or health conditions that would have ordinarily disqualified them from service.

In each fiscal year since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, statisics show, the Army has accepted a growing percentage of recruits who do not meet its own minimum fitness standards. The October statistics show that at least 1 of every 5 recruits required a waiver to join the service, leading military analysts to conclude that the Army is lowering standards more than it has in decades.

"The across-the-board lowering of the standards is buying problems in the future," said John D. Hutson, a retired rear admiral, dean of the Franklin Pierce Law Center, and a former judge advocate general of the Navy. "You are going to have more people getting in trouble, more people washing out" of the service before finishing their tour of duty.

The Army Recruiting Command, based in Fort Knox, Ky., insists that it carefully reviews each applicant. "We look at the recent history, such as employment, schooling, references, and signs of remorse and changed behavior since the incident occurred" on how recruits with criminal records are regarded, the command said in a statement to the Globe.

But Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat and influential chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he is concerned that the the Army is sacrificing quality for quantity.


Rest of article at: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/11/27/stepped_up_army_recruiting_enlists_many_with_problems/

[Maq]

1. Recruiting $$$ BONUS will be forfeited if the recruit

gets washed out,

riffed out for any condition deemed to have been in existence before enlisting. e.g. Mental deficiency. War related Mental problems usually are blamed on a pre-existing condition.

Watch the recruiting numbers fall as the population learns about the double standard

Get wounded-----give back the $$$ Bonus.
Develop a Traumatic Brain Injury====Give back the BONUS.

etc etc

Read the FINE (fine) print in your enlistment contract.