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Air Force pilots and others in rated fields who opt to stay in uniform can earn up to $600,000 over 12 years under the latest round of retention bonuses announced Nov. 30. The fiscal year 2024 incentives offer manned aircraft and drone pilots, combat systems operators and air battle managers an extra $15,000 to $50,000 per year, depending on their assigned aircraft and the years to which they commit. Annual bonus pay programs aim to keep airmen around to blunt the effects of a pilot shortage that has lasted decades, robbing the service of aviators in policy jobs that rely...

Prepared Senate Floor Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee Bipartisan Congressional Oversight December 6, 2017 VIDEO Mr. President, I have been doing oversight of the executive branch for a very long time. I’ve done it as a Ranking Member. I’ve done it as a Chairman. I’ve done it when my party held the White House. And, I’ve done it when the other party held the White House. Earlier this year, I stood up for the rights of my Democrat colleagues to do oversight of the Trump administration, even while they are in the Minority. I...

The "Bundy stand-off" in Oregon at a federal wildlife refuge has triggered (or, rather, re-triggered) questions about the constitutionality of federal land ownership. Westerners in particular question why the federal government should own nearly 30% of the country. In the West, the issue is particularly important. The federal government has title to about half the territory of the eight Rocky Mountain states, the west coast states, and Alaska. The share of ownership in each of those states ranges from about 30% to about 88%. (Exact figures vary according to the mode of calculation.) Westerners who work with the land tend...

"Combat Effectiveness" Being Degraded by Obama's Military Policies By evaluating an overwhelming amount of evidence that has been building for 6 ½ years, the obvious conclusion personnel with extensive military experience will come to, is that Obama’s military policies have been degrading the finest US military fighting force in history. Over the last 6 ½ years, the US Armed Forces has been hollowed out by Obama, his Social Experiment On Diversity has severely fractured unit cohesiveness, his “Politically Correct Policies” have negatively affected unit morale, and the “Combat Effectiveness” of the US military is being degraded. Tip of the spear...

Too many missions and too few pilots are threatening the ‘readiness and combat capability’ of America’s unmanned Air Force, according to an internal memo. The U.S. Air Force’s fleet of drones is being strained to the “breaking point,” according to senior military officials and an internal service memo acquired by The Daily Beast. And it’s happening right when the unmanned aircraft are most needed to fight ISIS. The Air Force has enough MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones. It just doesn’t have the manpower to operate those machines. The Air Force’s situation is so dire that Air Combat Command (ACC),...

http://blog.usni.org/2014/03/20/keep-a-weather-eye-on-the-horizon-a-navy-officer-retention-study

A proposed law designed to fight child pornography has rankled privacy advocates because it would require Internet service providers to keep 12-month logs of customers' names, credit card information, and other identifying information that are tied to temporarily assigned network addresses. Opponents say the law wouldn't markedly help lock up child pornographers and pedophiles, but rather would treat all Americans as criminals so that if law enforcement feels it has a need to find out who visited a website or posted a particular bit of content online, it can. The Electronic Frontier Foundation notes that the same data could become...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Emboldened by the removal of three Iowa Supreme Court justices, gay marriage foes said they plan to press Republicans who took over the governor's office and the state House to work toward a gay marriage ban. "We held a court in check, but now we want action from the governor's office and action from the Legislature," said Bob Vander Plaats, a Sioux City businessman and former Republican candidate for governor who led the effort to remove the justices. Chief Justice Marsha Ternus, David Baker and Michael Streit will be removed after about 54 percent of...

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2009 – All 10 active-duty and reserve military components met or exceeded their recruiting goals in April, Defense Department officials announced today. For the second consecutive month, the Marine Corps added the highest percentage of active-duty members. The Corps’ goal was to add 1,018 new Marines. It exceeded that number by 43 percent, adding 1,666 new Marines. The Army National Guard led the reserve components when it exceeded its recruiting goal of 4,029 new Guardsmen by 11 percent, adding 4,474 soldiers. “The economic downturn, rising unemployment, and the scarcity of civilian jobs has made military recruiting less...

WASHINGTON, March 10, 2009 – Defense Department officials today announced across-the-board recruiting and retention successes in February, with every service meeting or exceeding its active-duty, reserve and National Guard goals. The statistics reflect solid recruiting performance during a month that Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman noted is traditionally a slow recruiting period. Both the Army and Marine Corps, which are in the midst of growing their forces, exceeded their February goals. The Army led active-component recruiting, signing on 324 more soldiers than its 6,000-soldier goal for February. The Marine Corps, with 1,752 new accessions, topped its monthly goal by a...

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) likely will introduce his controversial legislation to reinstate the draft again this year, but he will wait until after the economic stimulus package is passed. Asked if he plans to introduce the legislation again in 2009, Rangel last week said, "Probably … yes. I don't want to do anything this early to distract from the issue of the economic stimulus." Rangel's military draft bill did create a distraction for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) soon after Democrats won control of Congress after the 2006 election. In the wake of that historic victory, Pelosi said publicly that...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 7, 2008 – Since March 2008, the Afghan National Army has recruited more than 9,000 soldiers. But retaining those troops to eventually reach the force’s 80,000-soldier end strength goal remains a challenge. Afghan National Army Sgt. Maj. Ashmatullah, recontracting noncommissioned officer, explains a new form to a group of Afghan officers and NCOs during training Aug. 4, 2008, at the Ministry of Defense in Kabul, Afghanistan. The training served to introduce a new retention regulation and a certification for Ashmatullah and two other sergeants major as trainers. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Beth Del...

The Congressional Budget Office has released a major study#[1] of the U.S. military's demographics under an all-volunteer framework versus the draft. The idea of reinstating the draft was a hot-button issue last November when Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY), a leader and committee chairman in the newly elected Democratic majority, vocalized his intent to once again make conscription the law of land. Called on by Congress to assess the matter, CBO offered new findings, which dispassionately deflate the notion that America's All-Volunteer Force (AVF) is inferior to a conscripted force by any measure: effectiveness, cost, troop quality, retention, morale, and even...

WASHINGTON, July 11, 2007 – Regardless of what’s happening in terms of recruitment, soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines already serving are reenlisting at rates that surpass all expectations, according to defense officials. Defense Department statistics for June, released yesterday, showed the Army missed its active-duty recruiting goal for the second consecutive month. Yet retention remained high across the board, 101 percent of goal for the active Army, 119 percent for the Army Reserve, and 107 percent for the Army National Guard, Maj. Anne Edgecomb, an Army spokeswoman, told American Forces Press Service. “Recruiting is important, but so is retention,” Bryan...

Brothers and Sisters of Free Republic, As you may or may not know, recently, the Boston Globe published a page one, above-the-fold, feature news story claiming that declining retention rates for West Point graduates are due to "repeated tours of duty in Iraq." While Bryan Bender, the author of the piece, went to great lengths to show that retention rates---at the end of the service requirement---are indeed lower than typical for classes graduating six to seven years ago, his "proof" that this was related to the War in Iraq was tangential, and, at best, anecdotal. I'm a freelance journalist, and...

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2007 – All service branches met or exceeded their active-duty recruiting goals in March, but three of the six reserve components missed their targets, Defense Department officials announced yesterday. “For the month, the armed forces have done extraordinarily well,” Bill Carr, the deputy undersecretary for Military Personnel Policy, said in an interview. In March, the two ground services exceeded their recruiting goals. The Army had a goal of 5,500 recruits and actually enlisted 5,545 new soldiers, for 101 percent. The Marine Corps had a target of 1,787 and enlisted 1,936 recruits, for 108 percent of its...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12, 2007 – All active components of the military services met or exceeded their recruiting goals for January, the Defense Department announced today. The Army achieved 111 percent of its goal with 9,306 troops; the Air Force, 100 percent of its goal with 2,552 troops; the Navy, 100 percent of its goal with 2,764; and the Marine Corps, 108 percent with 3,403. Four of six of the reserve components met or exceeded their recruiting goals for January. The Army National Guard, Marine Corps Reserve, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve all achieved more than 100 percent...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2006 – Five years after military recruiting hit the ceiling after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, recruiting remains solid, with every service meeting its active-duty recruiting goal for the 15th consecutive month. Recruiting and retention statistics for August, just released by the Defense Department, show the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force all meeting or exceeding both their monthly as well as year-to-date recruiting goals for the year. At the same time, retention remains solid across the board, with all services expected to meet their retention goals for the fiscal year, officials said. During August,...

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 882-06September 08, 2006 DoD Announces Recruiting and Retention Numbers for August The Department of Defense announced today its recruiting and retention statistics for the active and reserve components for the month of August. • Active duty recruiting. All services met or exceeded their recruiting goals in August.   Accessions Goal Percent Army 10,492 10,050 104 Navy 4,090 4,090 100 Marine Corps 4,320 4,053 107 Air Force 3,167 3,156 100 • Active duty recruiting from Oct. 1, 2005 to August 31, 2006.   Accessions Goal Percent Army 72,997 70,200 104 Navy 28,499 28,499 100 Marine Corps 24,300...

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (Army News Service, Aug. 31, 2006) – The active Army reached its fiscal 2006 retention goal one month early today when a Fort Campbell Soldier reenlisted. Staff Sgt. Michael Obleton, a truck driver assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, became the 64,200th reenlistment since Oct. 1, 2005. Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Richard Cody presided over the ceremony. “What a commitment. Our Army has been at war longer than we fought in World War II. Soldiers still reenlist knowing full well the dangers, knowing full well the sacrifice,” said Cody. Obleton, of Columbus, Ga.,...