the Army exceeded its recruitment goal for July,

[rodeodance]

Josh White reports for the Post that the Army exceeded its recruitment goal for July, after falling short for two months. How long this will continue is unclear, because the nation's war czar also said it makes sense from a military standpoint to consider a draft as a way of bringing in more recruits. Yeah, good luck with that. Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute said the draft had "always been an option on the table" and while the current all-volunteer force is working well, a draft is one of "several options" to prevent the military from "breaking." (Can someone explain what it means to "break" the military?) The White House quickly said there is no discussion of returning to a draft.

All this came on the same day the Army announced it had brought in almost 10,000 new recruits -- beating its target by about 2 percent -- in a difficult recruiting environment. It now looks like it will meet its recruiting goal of 80,000 soldiers for the year. One of the carrots it dangles before potential recruits is the Army's "quick-ship" cash bonus of $20,000 for recruits who are willing to go to basic training by the end of September. Other bonuses have been increased, too. Also, the Army has pushed more recruiters into the field, pressing former recruiters back into their old jobs and asking nearly 5,000 newly trained soldiers to go back to their communities and sell the Army


http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/3886/US_Papers_Sat_Making_Art_Amid_War_in_Iraq

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. How did they do this? Press gangs?

[MADem]

5. Easy. Reduce the goal, lower the standards, and pay hefty bribes, er, bonuses NT

[dflprincess]

16. There's always the old judicial trick of giving a newly convicted

person the choice of jail or the Army.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

2. Money for your family, money for you.

Those are some compelling ads.

MKJ

[Drum]

3. "When all else fails,

lower your standards."
-unknown

[alfredo]

4. So you graduated high school a few months ago. You haven't found a

job yet, your parents can't afford college, and to tell the truth, they want to turn your room into a den. What do you do?

One way the army meets its goal is to lower their goal. Another way is to lower their standards.

[monmouth]

6. That's it exactly. Waiting for the ink to dry on those diplomas...sick...

[alfredo]

17. I'd like to see the yearly enlistments for the past few years. I believe

July is always a good month.

[southerncrone]

8. Bingo, Alfredo!

Many kids today think they will just "go to college", not realizing you have to pay up first. Many parents today can't even put food on the table regularly, because they have run up so much debt, let alone pay for their kids' college. Jobs are not that plentiful in this "vibrant economy", so the military is a convenient (& sometimes, only) option, especially when you can get "bonuses" and they will "hire" you today.

Plus those "war-based" video games they've been playin' since they were 8 have GOT to more fun when it's REAL!

Poor kids, have no idea what they are getting into.....they will probably NEVER be able to get out unless it's in a body bag, or on a stretcher.

I hate what our country has become!!!1!!11!!!:grr:

[alfredo]

19. Of course if you score high enough you could end up in

intelligence. That's hell of a lot better than infantry.

[eweaver155]

7. The offering of bonuses (blood money) seems to be working.

Sign up recruit, here's your money, congratulations! You're trained for combat, Go to Iraq, kill insurgents and make democracy shine! IED. The Army/Marines regrets to inform you, your son/daughter was killed, thank for your patriotism. Bronze Star. Burial at Arlington. Here's your flag. Have a nice day. ;( Repeat cycle.

[southerncrone]

9. . . . . . .

:cry:

[TechBear_Seattle]

10. Only by resetting the July goals to...

"Hell, if we get any one, we have exceeded expectations!"

:toast:

[marlakay]

11. Makes you wonder how all the unpaid ones feel??

The ones who got no bonus and signed up out of wanting to support us after 9/11 not knowing it was a lie at the time...what did they get?? No legs, no arms, no life...and no bonus!

[sanskritwarrior]

14. Bonuses are usually given out by MOS and length of contract

they have been giving bonuses for the entire 14 years I have been enlisted......

In 1997 I got a 20,000 dollar bonus for reenlisting in my critically short career field......In 2001, I got a 12,000 dollar bonus for doing the same thing, In 2005 I got another bonus for changing my MOS............The bonuses are there if you want them........

[Middle finga]

12. When you're offering a teenager from a middle or lower class family

up to $40,000 plus other benefits to sign up, it's hard to turn down especially when opportunities are as scarce as they are now. Hell if a Gang Leader was offering youngsters that kind of money his ranks would be overflowing as well.

[gratuitous]

13. And that's all it is - an offer

Because when it comes time to collect on all those fabulous promises and offers, suddenly good old Uncle Sam seems real interested in every statement you've ever signed, every report your name has ever been a part of, every last little detail of your military career. And if it turns out you fudged just a little on your enlistment papers? Even after four or six or eight years of service? Sorry, son.

Promises are cheap, and a military contract is only binding one way. Or so the government would like folks to believe.

[sanskritwarrior]

15. How special

another day, another thread at DU where people that know next to nothing about the Army tell me who has spent my entire adult life in it, how recruiting actually works......

1. There have always been bonuses

2. There are still Americans that love this country, (contrary to a few DUers)

3. Many people that are joining now are better soldiers than I was when I joined 14 years ago.......

4. None of this matters, because some people have preconceived notions about those who join the Army that can never be broken........

5. Most of you should be praying that the military manages to keep recruiting quality people...........



:patriot:

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

18. I'm a veteran, married to a veteran. I got 2,000 to re enlist and no bonus for joining.

Nor did my spouse.

I love my country, served honorably and did it long before the government was bribing 17 y/o's with 40,000 dollar enlistment bonuses.

MKJ

[jmp]

20. $20,000 to get on the express lane to Iraq?

One of the carrots it dangles before potential recruits is the Army's "quick-ship" cash bonus of $20,000 for recruits who are willing to go to basic training by the end of September.

Screw that! May as well hold out until the entire job gets shifted over to Blackwater. The pay is much better, and much better odds of avoiding murder charges.