On the heels of General Myers’ acknowledgement that the US Army is stretched thin by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, comes news that Army recruiting has missed its goals for new recruits for the third month in a row..
In initial reports on Monday, an Army spokesman refused to provide a margin by which the goal was missed. March 2005 recruiting was short by 32% and February’s was short by 27%. Today, the Army disclosed that April’s recruiting fell short by 42%.
This is not a good trend folks.
The Army has plans:
Army spokesman Paul Boyce said officials believe that increases in the number of recruiters, as well as new advertising and publicity efforts, will produce a surge in recruiting this summer so that the Army can meet its full-year goal of 80,000 recruits by Sept. 30.
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Boyce said big gains are expected this summer, and the Army is cautiously optimistic it will overcome the current recruiting deficit during a summer period that traditionally is a good period of recruiters.
Uh, yeah, good luck with that. Here’s the real plan, revealed in the wake of Myer’s acknowledgement on Monday:
Pentagon officials said several initiatives would mitigate the risks outlined in Myers’ report, such as increasing the number of special operations troops, placing more reliance on long-range precision weaponry and increasing the Army’s size by 10 combat brigades by converting soldiers in staff positions into frontline troops.
Look out desk jockeys! Look out all you rear echelon motherfuckers! Thought you could hide out in the supply depot in Maryland, did you? The freedom express is waiting to take you away.
But seriously, didn’t we see an admission by Myers last week that the Iraqi insurgency is as strong now as it was last year? Maybe that’s why recruiting is down, General. The kids aren’t falling for the videogame facade any longer. Word’s out, this war is too dangerous and half the country knows that the country was lied into it. These Bushco criminals have put us in a very dangerous situation.
Why are recruiters outside malls in African American neighborhoods?
They should camp out in front of the Churches of Hate, These people want to kill innocent people they would be a natural in IRaq…. and we could get rid of them at the same time.
Prehaps Frist should make a call to arms at a Super-size church.
One of my best friends enlisted in the Army in late March. I wish I could say it was for honor & duty, but it was more of a way out for a dead-end lifestyle he had been living. He knows he will be sent overseas but it was the price he was willing to pay to turn his life around to support himself, his future wife, and his two young children. At some point, this country is going to have to discuss our military’s role in the world and in the lives of the people…if recruitment levels remain low, the wars Bush engages in will be unsustainable.