Recruiters blame Iraqi war for drop in Guard sign-ups (Well, Du-uh)

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/03072004/maine/3983.htm

AUGUSTA, Maine - Maine’s Army National Guard is having a hard time filling its recruitment quotas, and recruiters say the war in Iraq is to blame.

"Recruits are joining with eyes wide open. We’re not keeping any secrets," said Lt. Col. David Duehring. "There can be a real possibility that you will be deployed. If you’re thinking that you’re not, you’re taking a gamble."

Maine’s Army National Guard recruitment is down 20 percent compared to 2003. Nationally, the Guard says it hit its recruiting goal last year, but many of those are shipping out and the prospect for future recruitment is not as promising.

Giving up one weekend a month and two weeks a year used to be enough to serve your country. Duehring said National Guard members used to expect one deployment in 20 years of service. Today, traveling overseas is the norm in the first couple of years.

<snip>

[Jack_Dawson]

1. Hooda Thunk it?

:freak:

[Mari333]

2. so much for homeland security

they can kiss that off. Good, I wrote a letter to my local paper talking about how recruiters are infiltrating the schools and streets of our town and telling kids they will make big monies if they sign up other kids in this godforsaken poverty stricken town..I know of a few parents who grabbed their 18 yr old kids and said NO you BETTER not listen to these assholes..it was a heads up for the parents who are working their asses off at 2 jobs to get by and might not notice the recruiters coming here
My son wont re enlist in the Guard, and my stepson in Iraq says he wont re enlist after this shit..keep hammering away...
Bu$h has ruined our military..hell even the military knows that!

[LuLu550]

3. One of my son's friends just got back

He is with the 82nd Airborne...part of the invading force that took Baghdad..been over since last March.

He said it was terrible over there. He lost three friends, one extremely close. He said they felt like they got jerked around like crazy; being told it was for three months, then six months, then finally got out after a year.

He was going to make the military his life, but wants out when his first hitch is up because he was told he would have to do a second tour if he re-upped. He's going to stick out his last year and a half state side, then come home to become a state trooper.

The saddest part is that far-away, pained look in his eyes that I remember too well in the eyes of my friends who went to Viet Nam.

[Florida_Geek]

4. And 3rd Infantry Division is going back for their second

tour. How many of them will not re-enlist knowing in Nov they are going over AGAIN.

[kalian]

6. There is no option to "re-enlist"....given the stop loss...

Soldiers are not being allowed to retire nor finalize their
sign-up term. They will be let out when the military tells them
they can get out.
The draft has already begun...

[Mari333]

10. I am truly terrified of Michael returning with that look

I am going to have a vet support group ready for him and hopefully a good shrink who deals with PTSD available too when he returns (he has to return)...I know I cant count on the f*cking military to have help available for him.

[kalian]

5. Well...that's why the draft will be back next year....

after the selections are done. Whether its shrub or Kerry, it will
be back and it will be used.

[TinaTyson]

7. That raises doubts about of Kerry's 40,000 new sign-ups.

No one has provided an adequate answer yet on that issue.

Kerry says he wants to Add 40,000 new members of the military. He notes that these people will not be going straight to Iraq to relieve the current troops. I say, of course not, you would obviously have to train them first. But, what happens in a year or two when the people currently rotating in to Iraq come home for their much needed relief? Who will go then? It will have to be the people he is talking about signing up.

Now, again, where are those 40,000 going to come from? Is Kerry assuming 40,000 will volunteer? And, is that in any way realistic?

[kalian]

8. Very good question....

Just remember that Kerry was in favor of the Iraqi invasion and
didn't know that shrub would "f*ck it up so badly". I wonder what
he would have done differently? :shrug:

[IndianaGreen]

9. A draft is unavoidable if the endless war on terror continues

The only way to avoid a draft is by global disengagement, bringing the troops home now. Unfortunately the presumptive Democratic nominee has chosen to pursue Bush's military goals in the war on terror instead of opening a dialogue with the American people about the fallacy in the war on terror. Terrorism is a crime and should be treated as such. The military is too much a blunt instrument to use in the manner Bush has used it, and Kerry has said he intends to use it.

Using the military to chase down terrorists have created more terrorists and caused deaths and injuries among innocent civilians worldwide.

We should also ask ourselves how the use of our military to defend American corporate interests overseas have contributed to the hatred towards America.

[leftchick]

13. well said IG...

I just heard your same thoughts from Chalmers Johnson on C-span 2. I intend to buy his new book about American policy of Hegemony worldwide. Here is a link to it...

http://www.americanempireproject.com/bookpage.asp?ISBN=0805070044


About the book:
In the years after the Soviet Union imploded, the United States was described first as the globe’s "lone superpower," then as a "reluctant sheriff," next as the "indispensable nation," and now, in the wake of 9/11, as a "New Rome." Here, Chalmers Johnson thoroughly explores the new militarism that is transforming America and compelling its people to pick up the burden of empire.

Reminding us of the classic warnings against militarism--from George Washington’s farewell address to Dwight Eisenhower’s denunciation of the military-industrial complex--Johnson uncovers its roots deep in our past. Turning to the present, he maps America’s expanding empire of military bases and the vast web of services that supports them. He offers a vivid look at the new caste of professional warriors who have infiltrated multiple branches of government, who classify as "secret" everything they do, and for whom the manipulation of the military budget is of vital interest.

Among Johnson’s provocative conclusions is that American militarism is putting an end to the age of globalization and bankrupting the United States, even as it creates the conditions for a new century of virulent blowback. The Sorrows of Empire suggests that the former American republic has already crossed its Rubicon--with the Pentagon leading the way.

"Chalmers Johnson's relentless logic, authoritative scholarship, and elegantly biting prose distinguish The Sorrows of Empire, like all his other work. Anyone who reads it will have a much sharper sense of the costs of America's new world-girdling commitments--and I hope it is widely read." --James Fallows, Author of Breaking the News...Read reviews

Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute and professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego, is a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times and The Nation. His previous books include MITI and the Japanese Miracle. He lives in Southern California.
More on Chalmers Johnson...

[leesa]

14. There won't be any jobs by that time. People will be forced to join

if they want to support their families, eat, etc. This has been our governments plan all along and Kerry is very much part of it. He can change, but I see no evidence of it.

[chelsea0011]

11. Guard election results in 2004?

:think: :think: :think:

It will be interesting to see how the military, in particular the Guard, votes in 2004. The military is reported to usually go Republican overseas, but I wonder if it will happen again this year.

[Mari333]

12. The Long Blinding road to war

at least the Washington Post is covering the hell on earth

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36843-2004Mar6.html

[Barkley]

15. So that's why we're hiring mercenaries from Chile

The US is hiring mercenaries in Chile to replace its soldiers
on security duty in Iraq. A Pentagon contractor has begun
recruiting former commandos, other soldiers and seamen,
paying them up to $4,000 (£2,193) a month to guard oil
wells against attack by insurgents.


- The Guardian, U.K.



US contractor recruits guards for Iraq in Chile

Forces say experienced soldiers are quitting for
private companies which pay more for similar work

http://www.guardian.co.uk/chile/story/0,13755,1162441,00.html

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

16. $48K a year??? That's probably more than they are paying EM...

But, the Chilean mercswon't have the same rights as U*.S. troops and will be less likely to come home and talk about what is really going on there.