I heard on CNN today that armed forces recruitment is still strong!

[malachibk]

Can that be true? Who the hell is signing up now?

[justgamma]

1. People who have given up looking for work? n/t

[malachibk]

3. That's a story I'd love to see...

Looking for work for so long that going to Iraq is the only option left. Maybe Bush had a plan after all!

[papau]

7. Lack of work is the reason. n/t

:-)

[atre]

2. Poor people

Probably many come from West Virginia and other pockets of the Bush Recession.

[mtnester]

9. These traditional "poor pockets"

now include places such as Ohio, which was hit hard with just about the most lost jobs during the * regime. My college graduate son and many of his friends find themselves back at the jobs they held in high school just to pay rent and eat...not in debt, just the basics and are barely able to make it. Even worse for those with more responsibilities like family, mortgage, car payments, aging parents.

[mtnester]

4. May be true but...

Reenlistment is DOWN.

The number of soldiers staying in the Army is falling just as the demand is increasing in Iraq.

Through March 17, nearly halfway through the fiscal year, the Army fell about 1,000 short of meeting its goal of keeping 25,786 soldiers whose enlistments were ending or who were eligible to retire. That works out to a 96% retention rate.

Last year, the retention figure was 106% because more soldiers stayed than the Army had planned. The retention goal assumes that not all eligible to stay will remain.

Military personnel experts have warned that full-time soldiers and members of the Guard and Reserve could begin leaving this year because of the strains of service, including longer and more frequent overseas missions.

http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040416/6120940s.htm

SOMEONE has to go...either through subtle coercion (reenlistment bonus, slick recruiting) or conscription...scary

[Edgewater_Joe]

5. It's The Best Option For A Lot Of Kids

My niece has her first boyfriend, and he's already signed up -- and he's only a junior!

They live in a suburb of Cleveland, OH, and the county Cleveland is in lost 10% of ALL of their jobs JUST THIS PAST YEAR.

So there's so much despair that not even a stint in college is enough to say it's worth it for a lot of these kids.

It's gotten THAT bad in Bush's America.

[still_one]

8. No offense

but if your niece's boyfriend signed up, he cannot be the sharpest kid. After how our involvement in Iraq was mismanaged, and not even giving them sufficient resources to protect themseleves, this kid does not even have common sense.

You indicate he is a junior in college, and signed up even before he finished, not too bright

[playahata1]

10. I think he meant HIGH SCHOOL, not college.

n/t

[still_one]

12. That is even more inane if it is high school

because one more year and you would get a high school diploma, and just maybe a new administration

[playahata1]

17. Even if you sign up early, you still have to graduate from high school.

You MUST have a high school diploma or the equivalent in order to join the military. The military has what is called the "delayed-entry program." Furthermore, as the kid is still a minor, his parent/guardian must sign the enlistment form for him.

[still_one]

6. Really?

How come the word is we do not have enough reinforcements to replace those that are there?

Someone is lying...

[malachibk]

11. Wow.

Do these folks who have fallen on hard times and so have chosen to enlist agree with the war? Do they support bush? Or is it totally out of a need for income?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

13. Since when has joining the military meant you supported some politician?

Luckily, this is still America, people are still allowed to serve their country without regard to their politics.

[eaprez]

14. Its the ecomony stupid

The economy is bad.
Some people want an education and this is the only way they can see themselves being able to accomplish that.
Health Care - this is the only way many young people can secure health care for their families.
Those who have more choices aren't the ones joining.

[poppabear36]

15. We have a winner!

Those who have options don't serve.
For those who say a draft would be a disaster, I say we already have an economic draft of those towards the bottom of the ladder.
We need a draft to end this inequity in who serves our country in the military and to force a real examination of where we put our troops. It's the only way.

[Doctor_J]

18. Yeah

one good thing about Bushonomics - lots of young adults would rather fight than starve.

[eaprez]

21. ROFL

That would be a great campaign slogan or recruitment poster!

[bedtimeforbonzo]

16. military.com seems to think so

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,FL_numbers_041404,00.html

"Despite a rising tide of combat deaths and the prospect of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan for years to come, Americans continue to volunteer for duty and are re-enlisting at record rates. "

but on the cover of the USA Today there was a headline about how nobody is reenlisting. One of them must be wrong.

[rustydog]

19. If that were true, Rumsfeld wouldn't be extending Iraq tours of duty

Yes, the military is still getting volunteers, but not in numbers they are expected to and National Guard enlistment has dropped to almost zero nation-wide.

There are idiots out there and there are dirt-poor people with no hope for anything else and the military is a way out.
Hell, my sister is telling her 13 year old to go into the military for college money!
I asked her how many of the 700 dead American troops had enlisted because they wanted college money or medical benefits for their family?

I asked her if her son's death in Iraq or Syria is ok with her.

[playahata1]

20. And what was her response?

She and your nephew (or niece) need to do research about scholarships, grants and other means besides the military to pay for college. There is a lot of scholarship/grant money out there -- from both private and public sources -- that goes unclaimed, because many people do not realize it exists.