Army, Navy add citizenship option to boot camp

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

POSTED: Thursday, Apr. 21, 2011
Army, Navy add citizenship option to boot camp
By SUSANNE M. SCHAFER - Associated Press

FORT JACKSON, S.C. Military service has long been one route to U.S. citizenship. Now the Army and Navy, in need of specialists and language skills in wartime, are speeding things up by allowing recruits to wrap up the process while they're still in basic training.

It means a change in a no-visitors policy during boot camp, to allow federal immigration officers access to the recruits. But military officials say it's a well-deserved break for volunteers who otherwise would have to slog through the bureaucratic ordeal during deployments around the world, often far from U.S. embassies.

The military route is not a short-cut for foreigners abroad to get into the U.S. Only legal immigrants can apply, officials stress, and they must complete five years of honorable service or chance having their citizenship revoked.

"The moment the Soviet Union broke up, I decided America was the place for me to be," said Spec. Rima Rusnac, 33, of the former Soviet republic of Moldova, just after taking her oath of citizenship recently. "In America, I can exercise my full potential and be free."

Read more: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/04/21/1978744/army-navy-add-citizenship-option.html

[Hubert Flottz]

1. K&R

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. "... the Army and Navy, in need of specialists and language skills in wartime,..."

As long as they're not gay.

[nyy1998]

3. DADT is ending, so what's your beef now? nt

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. whaddaya got?

The Wild One

[NashVegas]

5. Let's Go Kill BUGS!

[RedCloud]

6. As long as they vote Republican they'll get quick access.

[RamboLiberal]

7. Become a citizen at boot camp: Army's new deal

Source: CBS News/AP


FORT JACKSON, S.C. - Military service has long been one route to U.S. citizenship. Now the Army and Navy, in need of specialists and language skills in wartime, are speeding things up by allowing recruits to wrap up the process while they're still in basic training.


It means a change in a no-visitors policy during boot camp, to allow federal immigration officers access to the recruits. But military officials say it's a well-deserved break for volunteers who otherwise would have to slog through the bureaucratic ordeal during deployments around the world, often far from U.S. embassies.


The military route is not a short-cut for foreigners abroad to get into the U.S. Only legal immigrants can apply, officials stress, and they must complete five years of honorable service or chance having their citizenship revoked.


"The moment the Soviet Union broke up, I decided America was the place for me to be," said Spec. Rima Rusnac, 33, of the former Soviet republic of Moldova, just after taking her oath of citizenship recently. "In America, I can exercise my full potential and be free."





Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/21/national/main20056024.shtml#ixzz1KCOmfW8p

[christx30]

8. Service guarentees citizenship...

Would you like to know more?

[canuckledragger]

9. nice reference..

..of Starship Troopers there

[christx30]

14. Mine is not the first...

certainly won't be the last. Nanu Nanu.

[provis99]

10. just like the Roman Empire hired barbarians and gave them citizenship.

The Decline and Fall of the American Empire is well underway.

[conspirator]

13. It's the roman foreign legion all over again nt

[Arctic Dave]

11. The money angle must not be working on the poor rubes, oops, I mean recruits

time to find another desperate group to exploit.

[LanternWaste]

12. I think this also happened in Prussia...

I believe this was also a path to citizenship in Prussia in the seventeenth and eighteen centuries, the Kingdom of Poland, the British Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, and Russia's army when she was considered the Gendarme of Europe.

I wonder if it's appropriate to make post-hoc-ergo-prompter-hoc Starship trooper observations on these cultures too, or if it only applies to the here and the now. :shrug:

[Vinnie From Indy]

15. This exactly what they used to do during the Civil War in NYC with mostly Irish immigrants

The people would get off the boat from Ellis Island and be met by an army recruiter that would sign them up and immediately put them on another boat moored right next to the one they just arrived on. There is a great scene in the movie Gangs of New York that depicts this aspect of our history.

I also like the Starship Trooper reference above.

[jmowreader]

16. I can see why they need to do this

Call it economics.

You can't be a linguist in the Army unless you've got a clearance, and you've got to be a citizen to get one of those.

So...rather than recruiting American high school kids into group-four and group-five languages--ones where the washout rate at language school is outrageous--recruit native speakers who are legal residents, and get them their citizenship before they go to Goodfellow AFB or Ft. Huachuca.