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Army post turning away fewer recruits for basic training
kansascity.com ^ | 3/18/05 | JAMES GORDON MEEK

Posted on 03/18/2005 7:39:02 AM PST by anniegetyourgun

FORT BENNING, Ga. - (KRT) - After two years of war, the Army is finding it harder to fill the ranks and is cutting corners on how it turns civilians into soldiers ready for war.

Although top brass insist that high standards are maintained, the gritty drill instructors and officers at this legendary post near the Alabama border bluntly disagree with their superiors about the quality of the raw recruits and their basic training.

"I won't lie to you - the Army is not being as picky as we used to be," said one ranking officer.

(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: army; recruiting; recruitment
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To: kellynla

The Marines ARE picky. They turned my son away because he has a titanium plate in his jaw (he was hit by a car 5 years ago). The Army will take him, though.


21 posted on 03/18/2005 8:30:40 AM PST by Trust but Verify (Pull up a chair and watch history being made.)
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To: Joe 6-pack

You can dance around the issue all you like but that Army Sniper is alive today thanks to the United States Marine Corps. PERIOD!

and he's been buying Marines drinks for over thirty years...

enjoy the rest of your day


22 posted on 03/18/2005 8:33:04 AM PST by kellynla (U.S.M.C. 1st Battalion,5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Div. Viet Nam 69&70 Semper Fi)
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To: kellynla; jb6
I don't remember the peg/hole test but my neighbor who was an Army Sniper in Nam didn't seem to mind us Marines choppering him out of a hotzone when you guys failed to come get him!

How soon the Jarheads forget how they were rescued by the First Air Cav in Nam.
23 posted on 03/18/2005 8:40:59 AM PST by GarySpFc (Sneakypete, De Oppresso Liber)
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To: clee1

I kind of like the "Dirty Dozen" approach.


24 posted on 03/18/2005 8:46:41 AM PST by dfwgator (It's sad that the news media treats Michael Jackson better than our military.)
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To: MikeinIraq

I doubt that. ; )


25 posted on 03/18/2005 8:48:24 AM PST by anniegetyourgun
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To: kellynla
You know, I've had close relatives in all branches of the service...I'm proud of them all for their service, and their ability to laugh at themselves.

I'm truly sorry that you lack the latter...It's truly a gift and a blessing. Have a nice day...;-)

26 posted on 03/18/2005 8:49:52 AM PST by Joe 6-pack ("It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.")
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To: ClearCase_guy

Well said.


27 posted on 03/18/2005 8:52:05 AM PST by BJClinton (“Give me your DUmmies, your Idiots, your Leftist Wackos yearning to be sanity free.” ~PJ-Comix)
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To: GarySpFc

The only thing I said I didn't remember was the peg/hole test. Now if you want to have a history lesson I'll have to take the rest of the day off. And I don't think you can afford me!


28 posted on 03/18/2005 8:52:54 AM PST by kellynla (U.S.M.C. 1st Battalion,5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Div. Viet Nam 69&70 Semper Fi)
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To: Joe 6-pack

Well the next time you want to make jokes of the Marine Corps and imply that we're stupid, I suggest you refrain...instead of apologizing for your classless "peg/hole" remark you take another cut at me!
Well guess what, you couldn't carry my boots!
class dismissed!

and thanks I will have a nice day!


29 posted on 03/18/2005 9:00:32 AM PST by kellynla (U.S.M.C. 1st Battalion,5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Div. Viet Nam 69&70 Semper Fi)
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To: kellynla
LOL...it was your implication that the USMC is "better" than the Army in your post #6 (One of the reasons I joined the Corps...The Marines are "picky")that started this ball rolling.

It becomes increasingly evident with each of your replies that you have a harder time taking than you do dishing out.

30 posted on 03/18/2005 9:10:39 AM PST by Joe 6-pack ("It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.")
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To: clee1

This will not work. Someone who is forced into the military instead of going to prison is the last person I would want in my unit. The foundation of the military is discipline and teamwork, traits that would be absent in any person that went into the military instead of jail. They could not be trusted and would be a constant source of trouble. He, or she, would be more trouble then they were worth.


31 posted on 03/18/2005 10:10:02 AM PST by ops33 (Retired USAF Senior Master Sergeant)
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To: ops33

Sorry, 17/18 year olds change....


32 posted on 03/18/2005 10:12:51 AM PST by dakine
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To: GarySpFc
M uscles
A re
R equired
I ntelligence
N ot
E xpected

Hey, I see the Gyrene is offering you a history lesson. Make sure he includes the parts about all the glorious Marine victories in the Civil War and WWII Europe. The Army's battle history doesn't have to take a back seat to any other service's, but you can't get the ooh-rah chorus to admit it.

33 posted on 03/18/2005 10:22:33 AM PST by 91B (God made man, Sam Colt made men equal.)
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To: clee1

No it isn't a social worker's program, but it was a second chance for a lot of people.

A social worker's progam is a hand-out, and military service is a hand-up.

I'm in the Army, (18 years so far) and our job is to provide for the defense of the nation. Denying service to someone who is salvegable is bad for the country, especially in this time of need.

Raising the bar for the lowest common denominator brings the whole country up and makes us stronger. And military service doesn't give anything to anyone, it makes you earn it.


34 posted on 03/18/2005 11:07:59 AM PST by BADDBOB
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To: kellynla
The only thing I said I didn't remember was the peg/hole test. Now if you want to have a history lesson I'll have to take the rest of the day off. And I don't think you can afford me!

Let's see, you were in Nam 69-70, and so the First Cav. rescue of the marines at Khe Sanh would have been forgotten by your kind. And yes, you couldn't carry MY boots.
35 posted on 03/18/2005 12:03:55 PM PST by GarySpFc (Sneakypete, De Oppresso Liber)
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To: GarySpFc

"My kind"
and just what is "my kind?"

BTW, I remember Khe Sanh very well, thank you.

I was in Nam. Were you?

Carry your boots?
No thank you, I carried enough Marine "boots" onto choppers to last me a lifetime!

BTW, Marines is spelled with a capital "M"


36 posted on 03/18/2005 12:24:58 PM PST by kellynla (U.S.M.C. 1st Battalion,5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Div. Viet Nam 69&70 Semper Fi)
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To: anniegetyourgun
Just to add to the general debate: While stationed in Germany I had a mortar platoon section sergeant, early 1980's, who came in because the choice was 20 years in jail for manslaughter or a military enlistment. He'd caught his wife and best friend in bed, and in a moment of passion, shot them. The 'best friend' died, the wife was only wounded, and he ended up serving 20 years in the Army.

Of course, he came in the latter days of the Vietnam era, and I also had some senior NCOs that couldn't read, and one who couldn't write either.

Still in all, the Soviets never came across the Fulda Gap. Maybe their NCOs couldn't read either, or had also shot their wives.

We will sink to whatever level we have to -- whatever the market will bear is also limited to whatever the consumer (goverment, taxpayers) are willing to invest in our Army of One.

Just remember that the President is the Commander in Chief, and the Congress is charged with the funding of the raising of an Army. Don't blame the Army entirely for what what it fields...

37 posted on 03/18/2005 12:40:41 PM PST by ReaganCowboy (History books are written by winners.)
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To: GarySpFc
I don't remember the peg/hole test but my neighbor who was an Army Sniper in Nam didn't seem to mind us Marines choppering him out of a hotzone when you guys failed to come get him!

How soon the Jarheads forget how they were rescued by the First Air Cav in Nam.

Oh, geez,another pi**sing contest. When you guys start throwing your johnsons out on table, I'm outta here.

No, it's not mine, it's my father's. Pacific, Korea & Nam. And he came home from each one, thank God.

R.I.P to all of our boys that didn't come back.

38 posted on 03/18/2005 12:46:06 PM PST by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60's.....you weren't really there.)
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To: kellynla
BTW, I remember Khe Sanh very well, thank you.
I was in Nam. Were you?


If you would have remember how the marines were rescued at Khe Sanh, then you wouldn't have started your pissing contest. Yes, I was there and served on an SF A-Team for six years.
39 posted on 03/18/2005 1:13:30 PM PST by GarySpFc (Sneakypete, De Oppresso Liber)
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To: ReaganCowboy

Interesting stories, RC. Thanks for sharing.....


40 posted on 03/18/2005 1:22:05 PM PST by anniegetyourgun
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