Institute Looks at Military Families...Research To Aid Reenlistment -WP

[Rose Siding]

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The military, so the saying goes, enlists a soldier but reenlists a family. Getting families to re-up in time of war is a daunting task the Defense Department hopes will be made easier with research by experts at Purdue University.

"Today, more than ever, we don't go to war without the support of our families," said Lt. Col. Joe Richard, a Pentagon spokesman.

Purdue's Military Family Research Institute was formed five years ago with an $8 million Pentagon grant to study soldiers and their families, with the research being used by policymakers to retain soldiers in the service.
...........
The researchers have created an index that measures commitment among soldiers and their spouses and tracks potential attrition problems. They also helped the Defense Department develop a "social compact" that links quality-of-life programs and the military's readiness.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2442-2004Nov21.html

[insane_cratic_gal]

1. military wife here

My husband is active Navy, (we both voted for Kerry) combat camera man.. in 2003 I made him take a desk job.. after he spent only 9 months at home from the day 9/11 happened right up until we took new orders.
His tours included Special ops In Afghanistan
Cuba
and Kwuit.. when he called me in 2002 and told me to be prepared for shit to hit the fan in Iraq. they were building up military a year before any annoucment was made.

So it depends on the family, as a wife to one, you can do nothing when they are out there but tell them that you love them.. and your behind them 100 percent. I was againt this war from the start I still am. But when my guys is out it's my job as his partner to Lift him up and carry them, through it.

[Ganja Ninja]

2. The dead can't re-enlist.

They don't have the option. That makes the pool smaller as time goes by.

[Mari333]

3. No DECENT or Honorable mother or father

or family member would LET their loved one re enlist...who the hell do these yahoos think they are kidding.

[Supersedeas]

4. Pretext of Research with a 'GOAL' of feeding KEY misinformation

the Office of Disinformation is alive and well....well funded.

[TahitiNut]

5. Indistinguishable from Market "Research"

While folks love to scapegoat tobacco companies, they all do the same thing: amoral attempts to get others to serve the goals of an organization, even when it's not in the true self-interest of those others.

[atreides1]

6. Military Husband Here

God willing my wife will be submitting her retirement packet on the 10th of December, and the only thing that will stop that is the USAF putting a Stop-Loss in effect.

We both voted for Kerry, and we are both against this war. Now that does not mean that I didn't support her when she was sent to Qatar, but I supported her not by keeping my mouth shut, but by being there
for her to talk to, as a sounding board.

As a veteran it is my opinion that the current military has been for the most part intentionally dumbed down, I'm not saying that there are not pockets of troops that know what the truth is, there are,
but the majority have no sense of self, they work within limited guidelines set by a chain of command that is more loyal to a political party then they are to the country that they are supposed to protect. A group of officers who do not hold the allegiance to the US Constitution that they swore, but will sacrifice the troops under their command so that their lord and master is revered.

And back at home we have the religious fanatics, doing whatever they can to steal our freedom and to impose their beliefs on the rest of us. Yet we keep being told that our military is fighting for our freedom, this is the biggest lie that is out there. While our troops are dying to "bring freedom" to the Iraqi people, the government that sent them there is trying to take away freedom.

The next time someone tells me to my face that the US military is fighting for my freedom, I plan to spit in their face, to be followed by my fist.

[insane_cratic_gal]

7. Thanks Atreides

I couldn't of said it better myself.