Army recruiting shortfalls blamed on Iraq war critics

(Actual photo taken 16 klicks south of Basra on June 28th by British Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol.)

don't you love the communist overtones of "willing to serve a cause greater than themselves"? if only that applied to this administration's stance on health care, joblessness, etc...

poor people, though? nah....thats not worth it

uh....?

Recruiting numbers bounce back for Army

Associated Press
Published June 30, 2005

WASHINGTON -- The Army has exceeded its recruiting goal for June after four months of shortfalls, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

Still, the service is far behind its targets to meet the annual goal of 80,000 recruits.

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a town hall meeting of Pentagon personnel that the recruiting picture had improved.

"I will tell you that, for the month of June, United States Army active recruiting is over 100 percent of its goal, which is a turnaround from where they've been in the last several months," he said.

Pentagon officials said the Army Reserve also met its recruiting goal in June. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the Army has not formally announced its numbers.

The Army's goal for its active-duty force June was 5,650 recruits; so far, more than 6,150 signed up, the officials said, citing preliminary statistics from recruiting stations.

The Army Reserve hoped to sign up 3,610; it has barely exceeded that goal, the officials said.

The active-duty Army is still 7,800 recruits behind its year-to-date goal. The service hoped to recruit 80,000 into its ranks between Oct. 1, 2004, and this Sept. 30.

The general nominated to succeed Myers told Congress on Wednesday that the nation's parents should not stand in the way of sons and daughters who want to join the military.

"Those who are looking to serve this country should be encouraged to do so," said Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"This is not about money, it's about message," Pace told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his nomination to be chairman of the joint chiefs.

"I believe there is sufficient love of country, desire to serve, that if encouraged properly . . . we'll continue to fill the ranks of our services," he said.

(haha see what I did there.. oh dear)

"In interviews, more than a dozen [College Republican] conventiongoers explained why it is important that they stay on campus while other, less fortunate people their age wage a bloody war in Iraq. They strongly support the war, they told me, but they also want to enjoy college life and pursue interesting careers. Being a College Republican allows them to do both. It is warfare by other, much safer means.

After the day's speeches, I was whisked down a hotel hallway by a guy in a baseball jersey with "Davidson" emblazoned on the back who promised me free food and drinks. Soon I was in a bright banquet hall with dozens of young Republicans. Open bars were set up in two corners of the room; in the center of the room was a catered, Mexican-style grill; on the walls, 1980s kitsch videos played on plasma TVs; in the air, the sound of suburban country music. It was all paid for by Mike Davidson, the former head of the University of California, Berkeley College Republicans and the insurgent candidate in the race for CRNC chairman. Let's get the party started.

I chatted for a while with Collin Kelley, a senior at Washington State with a vague resemblance to the studly actor Orlando Bloom. Kelley told me he's "sick and tired of people saying our troops are dying in vain" and added, "This isn't an invasion of Iraq, it's a liberation--as David Horowitz said." When I asked him why he was staying on campus rather than fighting the good fight, he rubbed his shoulder and described a nagging football injury from high school. Plus, his parents didn't want him to go. "They're old hippies," Kelley said.

Munching on a chicken quesadilla at a table nearby was Edward Hauser, a senior at St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas--a liberal school in a liberal town in the ultimate red state of Texas. "Austin is ninety square miles insulated from reality," Hauser said. When I broached the issue of Iraq, he replied, "I support our country. I support our troops." So why isn't he there?

"I know that I'm going to be better staying here and working to convince people why we're there [in Iraq]," Hauser explained, pausing in thought. "I'm a fighter, but with words."

At a table by the buffet was Justin Palmer, vice chairman of the Georgia Association of College Republicans, America's largest chapter of College Republicans. In 1984 the group gained prominence in conservative circles when its chairman, Ralph Reed, formed a political action committee credited with helping to re-elect Senator Jesse Helms. Palmer's future as a right-wing operative looked bright; he batted away my question about his decision to avoid fighting the war he supported with the closest thing I heard to a talking point all afternoon. "The country is like a body," Palmer explained, "and each part of the body has a different function. Certain people do certain things better than others." He said his "function" was planning a "Support Our Troops" day on campus this year in which students honored military recruiters from all four branches of the service.

Standing by Palmer's side and sipping a glass of rose wine, University of Georgia Republican member Kiera Ranke said she played her part as well. She and her sorority sisters sent care packages to troops in Iraq along with letters and pictures of themselves. "They wrote back and told us we boosted their morale," she said.

By the time I encountered Cory Bray, a towering senior from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, the beer was flowing freely. "The people opposed to the war aren't putting their asses on the line," Bray boomed from beside the bar. Then why isn't he putting his ass on the line? "I'm not putting my ass on the line because I had the opportunity to go to the number-one business school in the country," he declared, his voice rising in defensive anger, "and I wasn't going to pass that up." "

"Old Football Injury" .. Good one.

OMG thats hilarious.

There have probably been military interventions that I supported (Kosovo or Haiti maybe) without feeling the urge to join up.

There's nothing inconsistent in supporting wars that you refuse to fight in. Shameful, maybe, hilarious to the rest of us, but not inconsistent.

I think the point is less that than it is that if you're mouthing off about those who oppose the war by claiming they're not 'putting their ass on the line' while conspicuously not being there yourself, you set yourself up bigtime.

Why so? I'm a British citizen. A few years ago the government sent some troops to Sierra Leone, in the throes of civil war. I'm no expert, but it seemed to calm things down, and was probably a good thing. You could say I supported that intervention. Would I personally wanted to have gone out there to fight? No way! We have a professional army for that!

This dude is actually my hero. Good for him for being honest.

I'm honest too Dan! Look! "Cory Bray can choke on a shit dildo."

My point was really that if you're going to be all self-serving and chickenshit about this, be upfront and honest about how you are being self-serving and chickenshit. At least then people will have a clear idea of where you actually stand.

Oh yeaaaah...now I remember.

i've never read anything so OTM in my life.

...Apparently, the enlistment shortfall isn’t due to little things like the fact that June was the fifth deadliest month of the war for U.S. soldiers or that we continue to send out troops into battle without the proper equipment to keep them safe.

No, according to Inhofe, the reason the military is having trouble attracting people to fight for democracy in Iraq is due to our free press here at home. That might seem like a contradiction, but then you may not have as nuanced a concept of democracy and freedom -- not to mention reality -- as Sen. Inhofe.

You see, the Senator feels the media are covering Iraq too much. They’re just not devoting enough attention to things like white girls “missing in paradise,” shark attacks, and celebrity trials. If only we could get the media to stop obsessing on what’s going on in Iraq then maybe those parents wouldn’t be as reluctant to sign their kids right up...