Posted on 12/12/2006 2:28:38 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Though Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the war in Iraq, the Pentagon said Tuesday it is having success enlisting new troops. The Navy and Air Force met their recruiting goals last month while the Army and Marine Corps exceeded theirs, the Defense Department announced.
The Army, which is bearing the brunt of the work in Iraq, did the best. It signed up 6,485 new recruits in November compared with its target of 6,150 — meaning 105 percent of its goal.
All the services turned in similar performances in October as well, meaning they so far are meeting their goals for the 2007 budget year that began Oct. 1.
"The services are starting off well," said Maj. Stewart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman.
The progress in recruiting comes as U.S. pessimism over the Iraq campaign mounts, according to a recent AP-Ipsos poll. Some 63 percent of Americans said they don't expect a stable, democratic government to be established in Iraq, up from 54 percent who felt that way in June.
Dissatisfaction with President Bush's handling of Iraq has climbed to an all-time high of 71 percent, according to the AP-Ipsos survey this month. A bipartisan commission last week released its recommendations for a new course and the president held a series of meetings this week to hear from his advisers.
According to figures released Tuesday by the Pentagon, the Navy signed up 2,887 recruits last month, or 100 percent of its goal; Marines signed up 2,095, or 104 percent of its 2,012 target and the Air Force signed up all 1,877 it was seeking.
The Army also met its goal in the 2006 budget year after missing its target in fiscal year 2005 for the first time since 1999. It added recruiters and offered recruits bonuses to help attract more to the service.
The Army has been recruiting about 80,000 people a year, setting differing monthly goals depending on the time of the year.
Though the active services are doing well, recruiting has lagged for the Army Reserve and Navy Reserve, officials said.
The Army Reserve last month signed up 1,888, or just 79 percent of its 2,376 goal and the Navy Reserve signed up 687 recruits, or just 91 percent of its 755 goal.
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On the Net:
Defense Department http://www.defenselink.mil
So, six years later or sixty, he'll be responsible for what he did in the 90s. That has no bearing on the fact that our current Administration has kept the size of Clinton's downsized military, which everyone seems to agree is too small, and then vastly increased our global committmets. We've had six years to fix the problem, and have done practically nothing to do so. Blaming Clinton now is a little like buying a car that needed an oil change, and then not changing the oil for five years, while blaming the seller for screwing you.
While he irresponsibly handed us a small military from a relatively peaceful decade, what does it say about the current Administration to be more than halfway through a decade filled with war, and STILL haven't built the military back up?
The rumors you hear are absolutely correct, but grossly understated.
What is being covered up and waivered is truly frightening. The recruiters put guidance counselors in positions that are inexcusable. The whole game is to bring a clearly unqualified applicant to the MEPS on Mission Day and hope a guidance counselor doesn't notice. Once the counselors signature is on the contract...guess who gets the blame?
My meter is just fine and when someone is going to crack jokes about our military who just recently signed up I will ask for clarification and indicate to them they need a notation to let others know that it is an innocent joke with no bashing intended. I have seen trolls come up on FR that does nothing but bash our troops and our President.
I'll be one of those enlisting early next year : )
Because people come up to them and thank them for their service (and buy them drinks).
This is a military town, so sadly, no one really looks twice at the uniforms. We have Yuma Proving Grounds and MCAS Yuma here and there is some kind of Naval Station in El Centro.
And people always know my dh is a Marine, even if he isn't in uniform because of the haircut, so he wouldn't need to wander around in his cammies LOL.
Not quite.
Army raises enlistment ageThere is, however another route that gets pretty close to 65:
FORT KNOX, Ky. (Army News Service, June 22, 2006) – The Army has raised the enlistment age to 42, made possible under provisions of the Fiscal Year 2006 National Defense Authorization Act.
The Army raised the active-duty age limit to 40 in January as an interim step while it worked out the additional medical screening requirements for recruits ages 40 to 42. Before January, an applicant could not have reached his or her 35th birthday. The Army Reserve age limit was raised from 35 to 40 in March 2005.
Raising the maximum age for Army enlistment expands the recruiting pool, provides motivated individuals an opportunity to serve and strengthens the readiness of Army units. More than 1,000 men and women over age 35 have already enlisted since the Army and Army Reserve raised their age limits to age 40.
*more*
United States Code, TITLE 32, § 313.
Appointments and enlistments: age limitations
(a) To be eligible for original enlistment in the National Guard, a person must be at least 17 years of age and under 45, or under 64 years of age and a former member of the Regular Army, Regular Navy, Regular Air Force, or Regular Marine Corps. To be eligible for reenlistment, a person must be under 64 years of age.
(b) To be eligible for appointment as an officer of the National Guard, a person must—
(1) be a citizen of the United States; and
(2) be at least 18 years of age and under 64.
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