The Pentagon on Tuesday defended the quality of recruits entering the military even as the Army accepted older enlistees and more with past criminal problems, no high school diplomas and lower aptitude marks.Go Team GO!!!
"I don't think they're lesser-quality recruits," David Chu, U.S. under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, told a Pentagon briefing.
The active-duty Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines all made their recruiting goals in fiscal 2006, which ended September 30, in a year when the ongoing Iraq war helped make recruiting for the ground forces especially difficult.
Four of the six reserve components of the military -- the Army Reserve, the Army National Guard, the Navy Reserve and the Air National Guard -- missed their 2006 goals. The Army Reserve and National Guard, which have sent tens of thousands of their part-time soldiers into the 3-1/2-year-old Iraq war, also missed their goals last year.
This year, the Army Reserve missed its goal by 5 percentage points and the Army National Guard by 1 percentage point.
There have been 2,745 U.S. military deaths in the Iraq war, the Pentagon said.
The active-duty Army exceeded its 2006 goal of 80,000 recruits by 635 after missing by almost 7,000 its 2005 target, which also was 80,000. The Army improved its fortunes by using more recruiters and offering richer enlistment bonuses, but also took steps some experts believe could undermine the quality of the force.
About 13,600 regular Army recruits -- 17 percent -- were accepted with waivers for past criminal conduct, drug or alcohol abuse or medical issues such as obesity. That compares to 11,018 such waivers last year, and 7,640 in 2001
[ cf Pentagon defends quality of U.S. military recruits ]
One really has to wonder how anyone can watch, oh, say, The Country Music Channel, where the Pansy Boys are singing those sad songs about these hard times and the desire to park their boots some cute place...
I mean really, it is bad enough when the traditional effemete east coast wimp whiners are trying to hide behind HanoiAnnie Coulter's Moistened bit, but to have the Grand Old Opre Crowd also backing the dispicable practice of good old boys hoping that some girl will go overseas while they hide back home hoping to pick it and twange it with the rest of the Congressional Pages riding the gravey train of Federal Largess...
But Go Team GO!!! Never mind the 13,600 who had to get waivers to get over the goal llife of 635 - I mean, gosh, it is not like anyone out there said that America had actually been attacked!!! Besides during WWII, which never really lasted as long as the liberal whiners whine about it having lasted, never really required that we send any of the Flower of our effemete East Coast Conservativists....
I mean, my GOSH can you IMAGINE how tough things are, what with:
For many, an evening out in D.C. usually begins with either a large, sometimes expensive, dinner paired with excessive drinking, or a quick bite and a pre-game at a dorm or an apartment. You take a cab to the club and once outside have to make the choice of which line to get on. Often those who frequent the clubs have a table, allowing easy and free access into the club, with no waiting required. The other alternative is the “comp list,” comprised of names of those diligent enough to email a promoter. I assure you, there is no status involved.yes, boys and girls, there IS a social hierarchy in place, and it is not only at George Washington University...
For many girls, and even some males, however, it’s whose alcohol you plan to drink which truly becomes the issue of the night.
...
Keep in mind, there is a social hierarchy in place here at GW, but it doesn’t have to be delineated by funds. If your bank account doesn’t afford for a table each night, there are other options and those make you no less respected or loved.
Live life at the pace your comfortable with – girls can smell when you front.
[ cf GW's gold diggers ]