Posted on 10/22/2006 1:41:46 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
North Carolina remains a strong source of Army recruits despite an unpopular war in Iraq that has left 3,000 troops dead and 20,000 wounded.
The state now ranks fifth nationally for new active-duty Army recruits, according to the Defense Department. A U.S. Census survey that shows North Carolina ranks 10th in the nation for the number of men between the ages of 18 and 24.
The state in the past year churned out 3,424 new active-duty soldiers.
Patriotism, a generation of young adults willing to serve and familiarity with the military were among the key factors behind North Carolina's rank among states, military officials said.
"People are not uncomfortable with the military," said Lt. Col. Thomas Christensen, commander of the Army's Raleigh recruiting battalion, which covers all of the state except the Asheville area.
Eastern North Carolina, in particular, is an above-average hot spot for new soldiers. That's partly due to the half-a-dozen military installations in the region that give North Carolinians a better understanding of military life and its benefits, Christensen said.
"They understand we deploy. They understand we return," he said. "They understand how to raise a family in this environment."
Nationally, all four service branches topped their national recruitment goals for active-duty troops in the past year.
In North Carolina, the Marines recruited 1,073 troops last year, while the Air Force brought in 911 recruits. Officials from both branches could not say Wednesday whether those numbers met goals.
The Army National Guard fell short in fiscal 2005 but exceeded its goal over the last fiscal year, bringing in more than 2,000 recruits, said Lt. Col. Cliff Wilkins, recruitment commander for the state.
The Army met national recruitment demands in part by increasing its use of waivers for applicants with medical problems, minor criminal records and low test scores. The Army issued 11,700 such waivers, said Maj. Gen. Thomas Bostick, commander of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command.
Despite the solid military support that dates back to Colonial times, North Carolina might not be contributing enough. The Raleigh Army recruiting battalion in the past year reached just 86 percent of its goal for active-duty members and 77 of its goal for the Army Reserve, Christensen said.
To boost numbers, the battalion has brought on 35 new recruiters since March 2005 to raise the total to 244. A new station has opened in Wake Forest and another is set to open in Chapel Hill in the coming weeks. And more new stations are planned in Charlotte, Salisbury and Hope Mills, Christensen said.
John Maultsby, 31, a construction worker, could help the Raleigh battalion meet its goal. He told Staff Sgt. James Liles during a recent recruiting pitch at a Raleigh mall that he'd been thinking about joining the military.
Liles gave him a business card.
"The seed is planted," Liles said.
This Friday I will head down to Parris Island see a fine young man grad. from boot. His family is from Cuba and are political refugees. Good solid family.
Just gotta love the AP title....
Hotbed!
They need to open a station at Duke -- to recruit some of those New Jersey men.
North Carolina produces a lot of military recruits. Duh. In other news, NASCAR is a big sport a a lot of people go to church down there. Is this where I can git me a huntin' license?
Thank God for the South and the West, with out the the USA probably would be as screwed up as Old Europe
Give me Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's old colors and President Bush for a week, and I'll go down to North Carolina, and Tennessee, and Texas, and I'll raise an entire corps for him under those old regimentals.
Pride, pride, pride.......
There are others. My 18 year old nephew, an Eagle Scout, just graduated basic and is in Arizona waiting for his instructors to return from Iraq. He's a good kid and we're proud as heck of him for choosing to join the Army right out of high school. He's from Steeler Country.
Uh AP, people join the military TO FIGHT WARS
They don't join for sandbag duty along rivers or police duties in inner cities. Dumbasses!
Has there ever been a popular war?
Once again, North Carolina proves herself a resource of military strength as she did in the WoNA.
Thank God then for the pockets of Red in the mass of blue insanity then
How do anti-American liberals try to destroy the military?
Attacks on Patriotism
1. Denounce patriotism by implying you are mindless robots to be patriotic.
2. Try to confuse what patriotism means by claiming that leaking classified war information or consorting with the enemy is the best way to be patriotic.
3. Denounce patriotism by claiming it discriminates against those from other countries.
4. Open the boarders to all countries and treat this country like "Grand Central Station" for all countries of the world to eliminate the American identity.
5. Claim the United States is the biggest force of evil in the world.
6. Claim that the US Military cannot make a move without UN approval.
Attacks on young adults willing to serve
1. Claim that US soldiers are killing innocent women and children in Iraq and around the world.
2. Claim that US soldiers are raping and pillaging at every opportunity.
3. Claim that US soldiers are torturing the poor innocent muslims around the world.
4. Make fun of the patriotism that a soldier displays.
5. Constantly tries to show negative stories on the US military to lower troop morale.
6. Every weapon system is a waste of money and doesn't really work.
7. Downplay any successes and highlight any challenges.
Attacks on the familiarity with the military
1. Keep military recruiters away from high schools and college campus. Do not want any student-soldier contact.
2. Claim that the military is a sexist and racist organization.
3. Teach students that the Bush is evil and the war was a lie.
Attacks on Patriotism
....
4. Open the boarders to all countries and treat this country like "Grand Central Station" for all countries of the world to eliminate the American identity.
Of course, I'm sure in the 'mind' of this DBM writer, high recruitment levels are 'unwelcome'.
Big Journalism labels itself "objective" and conflates its own very particular interest (ie, bad news which will scare you into reading the paper) with the public interest (which quite obviously is exactly the opposite). And Big Journalism has fellow travelers who also promote bad news (especially plaintiff lawyers, unionists, and Democratic politicians) whom Big Journalism rewards with postitive PR. Big Journalism awards such people postitive labels such as "moderates" (moderation being a classical virtue) or "progressives" or "liberals" (the latter two referring to popular American attitudes; all Americans believe in progress and in liberty).All Americans believe in progress and in liberty, and all Americans - including soldiers - desire peace. But Big Journalism awards the label "antiwar" only to quislings who, given a choice between war and dishonor, chose dishonor - and get war anyway.
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