Pentagon delays release of May recruiting data

[hadrons]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Wednesday postponed by more than a week the release of military recruiting figures for May, as the Army and Marine Corps struggle to attract new troops amid the Iraq war.

The military services had routinely provided most recruiting statistics for a given month on the first business day of the next month.

Air Force Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the May numbers for the active-duty and reserve components of the all-volunteer military will be released on June 10.

"Military recruiting is instrumental to our readiness and merits the earliest release of data. But at the same time, this information must be reasonably scrutinized and explained to the public, which deserves the fullest insight into military performance in this important area," Krenke said.

Asked whether the move would simply delay the release of bad news, Krenke said, "That's not necessarily true," noting that "we expect the numbers to improve during the summer months."

....

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=584&e=5&u=/nm/20050601/pl_nm/arms_usa_recruiting_dc

June 10 happens to be a Friday (news dump) ... there are really two recruiting numbers; the number of planned recruits and the ones that are in boot camp, the numbers we usually point to are the latter, but when the former really drops, watch out

[bpilgrim]

1. they're busy... it's HARD WORK!

http://images.globalfreepress.com

peace

[BlueIris]

66. Snort.

Sigh.

[Supersedeas]

99. smirk - werk - smirk

[Wright Patman]

2. 'A new kind of war'

is what they always termed it right after 9-11, one without recruits.

[the other one]

3. Releasing bad numbers would be unpatriotic.

It would show the insurgents that american will is wavering, and that if they hold on they can out-last us. If the military releases poor numbers, it makes them no better than the rest of the nattering nabobs of the liberal media.

[Knight of Ni]

12. That's also why they went in without an exit plan......

....or ANY plan, for that matter. Can't telegraph our moves to the enemy.

Yeeaaahhh, THAT'S the ticket!!!

[alfredo]

55. Osama wants us tied down in a bloody little war. He wants us to

die of a thousand cuts. bush has played right into his hands.

[Mika]

106. Huh? Osama works for BushCrimeInc.

They are playing on the same team.

[EST]

14. American will IS wavering, and way later than it should

have been. The chance to be an unprincipled bully co-opted the will of many. in spite of the sure and predictable hatred it would engender.
The arousal from our national nightmare is a difficult proposition, demanding an unaccustomed and highly unwelcome self-examination on the part of many whose devotion to the eleventh commandment has been a center point of their existence.

[alfredo]

54. America is waivering because they see our strategy sucks

and that our leaders don't seem to have a plan to get us out of this fix.

Our youth seem to be voting with their feet. Something needs to be done, or our country will not be able to respond to a real threat.

I am a veteran, and I feel that our soldiers are being abused by sending them into a unnecessary war.

[Imagevision]

101. Quite Obviously the "REAL" numbers look bad, with each passing month

recruitment numbers are dropping -- they're probably siging up more suicide bombers in numbers in Iran/Syria.

[berni_mccoy]

4. I feel a draft coming...

Brrr....

[chomskysright]

20. 'don't need a Weatherman to know which way the wind is blowin'

[0007]

38. "its all over now baby blue"

[Robeson]

22. They may need another major "incident" to happen before they....

...can bring back the draft. If they get their incident, then they'll push the need for a draft so that this country can make its last "great effort" for the triumph of good vs. evil....

[Selteri]

24. Oh, I'm sure they can invent an incident.

I'm not the kind of person who would be surprised if they announce that they'll have to have a draft after the numbers that come out this month.

[TexasLawyer]

32. Perhaps nuking Iran will provoke an "incident"

It looks like that was the way (significantly stepped-up bombing campaigns) the US tried to play things in the lead up to war with Iraq.

[obxhead]

26. not until 2009

the draft is a sure loser for the pubs

[Imagevision]

102. Draft? Bush will simply state that the commanders in Iraq have requested

more troops and since the recruiting hasn't filled the void of much needed man-woman power, sure, Bushboy will just prance out there with his embedded ear mike and announce that there will be a draft -- end of story?

Bush & his cronies must secure that oil -- and his opponents/insurgents also realize that they can't allow the US. to take Iraq's oil or they'll be doomed -- Cheney reassured us a few days ago that the insurgent problem in Iraq will be done with by 2009.

You say you now have a 15-16 year old boy or girl?

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. Come on now

where are all those people with the ribbons and the Bu$h stickers? You would think they would be lining up in droves to defend Amerika. Instead, they're busy making excuses.

[Kolesar]

6. Don't you sit under the apple tree

With anybody else but me
anybody else but me
anybody else but me

[Roland99]

7. Gotta give them time to justify exaggerating the numbers.

Plus, don't forget. They were on nationwide standdown for a WHOLE DAY.

[Jacobin]

11. I heard they found some ex Arthur Anderson accountants

to 'help them' with their recruiting statistics.

:-)

[EvolveOrConvolve]

8. It's a PR move, plain and simple

They're trying to figure out how to spin the numbers in the most positive way. Think Enron.

Knowing the propensity the Pentagon has for fuckery, it wouldn't surprise me if they either lie outright, or "black ink" the numbers in the "interest of national security."

[ClintonTyree]

36. How long will it be before....

we start getting "revised" numbers like we do for the jobs report? Yeah, they'll spin it somehow. They have to figure out a way to put lipstick on this pig, it's tough though.

My god, with all the young republicans there are walking around disrupting elections, keeping Democrats out of Town Meetings and sticking up for bush and his henchmen ad nauseum, you'd think there wouldn't be a problem with recruiting. :shrug: Where are those fine young men who love their president and believe he can do no wrong? They're not chickenhawks, are they?

Same old, same old. The Pukes are always the first to send other people's children off to war, yet they wouldn't lower themselves to actually back their words up with action. They'll pull a Tom DeLay and say "all the good jobs were taken by minorities". :eyes:

It's (past) time to GET THE HELL OUT OF IRAQ, NOW! :grr:

[bornagainhuman]

56. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

All of those prewar supporters are turning out like me and seeing the hypocrisy of this administration we must "stop tyranny and this mad man who tortures people for his own gain". (sigh) when i joined i actually had high hopes for improving those peoples lives and thought bush could do it and he turned out to be just as bad. and i just LOVE how he is helping these poor people claim their civil liberties as he slowly chips away at ours in the name of keeping our country safe. hahahahahah i laugh at how naive and blind i was but now a lot of the youth are starting to open their eyes thats where they are all going. after my 4 years are up they can try to keep me in but they will have to drag my happy ass out of Canada. o and if you want a real good laugh check out this cartoon http://toccionline.kizash.com/films/1001/138/index.php

[EST]

57. Welcome to DU!

We missed you.

[ClintonTyree]

67. Great toon....

and I hope you're correct about the younger generation finally waking up to reality. A few polls I've seen seem to claim the opposite, that young folks are more willing to give up personal freedoms for some perceived "safety" from terrorism.
They're falling for bush's bullshit about Social Security reform as well (according to the polls). Private accounts ARE NOT the way to shore up Social Security though. I can see why the young are terrified about Social Security, the numbers don't add up and they see SS a something that will be bankrupt by the time they retire. There's a simple fix, raise the ceiling on the SS wage cap, problem solved. But bushco. views that a a tax increase and will have no part of raising his rich backers' taxes. They're his "base", along with the Theofascists.
I'm happy you've "seen the light" and come in from the darkness that is the Republican Party.
Welcome to DU and contribute as much as you can here. We need input from all age groups to craft a platform that appeals across the board.
Welcome :hi: and above all, STAY SAFE. :patriot:

[kissmygrits]

86. Bwaahahahahah

So funny but so true. Bet the bushites will set up extra guards at the border to run checks on all Americans of draft age trying to leave. Getting out of AMERIKA will be harder than getting in.

[mr jones]

9. heh

They need more time in order that "this information ... be reasonably ... explained to the public", i.e. they need time to come up with an excuse.

[EST]

17. It may be that they are planning to spin the month of May

as a "holiday shortened" month, allowing them to include the first ten days of June to the recruiting picture, producing a five week month, the better to fuzz the numbers. (Avoid looking shitty at all costs)

[denverbill]

21. Either that or June last year was a horrible month.

So doing a year-to-year comparison with a horrible month from last year makes this year's number look somewhat better by comparison.

[hatrack]

50. Reminds me of the weather-blaming economists

"Retail sales in May were slowed by unseasonably cool weather, which hurt the transition to summer items such as swimwear, coolers, grills and motorcycles."

"Retail sales in May were slowed by unseasonably warm weather, which caught shoppers unaware before such summer items as swimwear, coolers, grills and motorcycles had time to reach malls and outlet stores."

[mod mom]

87. Maybe they are waiting until the students are off campus to prevent

mass protests.

[Mojambo]

10. Starve the beast

The recruiting problems will be what ends this war.

[uncle ray]

63. i betcha more than one long haired hippie freak

said that in the 60's too.

[ClintonTyree]

68. I don't remember saying that....

;) but it became a moot point when they started playing "The Game Of Life", (draft lottery) as we called it then. I remember sitting in front of the TV with my pals waiting to see what our fate was in the televised lottery. They kept saying "the first 124 numbers will surely be drafted" and, when 124 birthdays had passed before mine, I was feeling pretty good about my chances. Number 125, November 13, 1950. My birthday. I nearly shit my pants. :scared: I was lucky enough to get a 4-F classification (I was too fat to kill people, not that I gained an enormous amount of weight before my pre-induction physical or anything ;) ) One of my pals that was sitting in the living room with me that day got drafted and never made it back from that shithole (alive, anyway) Another, who was a world class pianist got his left hand blown nearly off in a booby trap which got him sent home, but he never played the piano again.
I pity the next generation that will have to go through the draft, and it IS coming unless sanity is somehow returned to our foreign policy rather quickly.

[cliss]

13. If I'm not mistaken, this is the new

focus of Mr. Stan Goff. For some reason, he feels that this is the US Achilles Heel, well worth targeting. He feels that if enough people can be persuaded to not sign up, we may see a domino effect since the whole system is built on a volunteer military.

Even RumsFailed is opposed to the draft. You cut off this volunteer supply, and you've got some major problems.

http://www.stangoff.com/

[pokercat999]

16. Kinda like a drug addict losing his supplier. Withdrawal.....

[ClintonTyree]

37. Must.....have......

blood.....for.....oil.....

[wakeme2008]

15. lol I remember working for a computer company

that had 15 Dec 31th for counting year end sales. :evilgrin:

[Zorra]

18. Recruitment months will now be extended. The term month is

heretofore to be considered a 40 day period so that we can fix facts and information to fit our needs, in the example and spirit of our glorious war leader, Commander Cuckoobananas.

[AuntiBush]

19. Aww... the Cookoo-Bananas Salute for the Bushlivitz Sheep.

How many flags does one need to prove patriotism rather then the REAL DEAL: "Nationalism!"

[obxhead]

27. i recently heard an interview on NPR

about these guys that made a dog sled trip to the N Pole in under 40 days. In order to make this happen they "rolled the clock" to allow 30 hour days due to sunlight available etc. Don't really know how it worked but would love to learn.

[tabasco]

23. If the numbers were good, this wouldn't be happening.

They are going to spin this somehow, but the bottom line is that young people have figured out this war is not for our freedom. They are not willing to die for a lie. Good news.

If the repugs keep Congress in '06, bet on a draft. I'm not sure they can wait that long. The situation in line units is critical. Troops are being "reclassified" - from one job to another to plug the holes, but that simply kills retention. It is a crisis right now for the line units.

[ClintonTyree]

39. How long will they be able....

to keep the Reservists and National Guardsmen in the fray? These people have been worn out, they were never meant for prolonged periods of war time action. Some of these women come home from extended tours and their children don't even know who they are anymore. They're losing their jobs when (if) they get to come back, wives are deserting husbands and vice versa.....the whole thing's a big stinking mess and the bush clan couldn't care less.

WAKE UP AMERICA! :grr:

[tabasco]

43. They missed their number by 42% in April.

If they recruited less than half they needed in May, we're going to hear some generals on the news telling us what I said before - it's a crisis.

I'm an Army vet and I still love the Army, but this is good news to me. It shows that Bush hasn't fooled everybody that we're fighting for our freedom.

Reserve/Guard units have been in crisis since before the regular force. Reservists coming back from extended tours have been getting right the f**k out.

Bush has treated the military like expendable slaves and we are now seeing the effects on recruiting.

[trogdor]

79. I got my 20 year letter (USAR retirement) last year.

I was in the unit admin's office within the hour to fill out my retirement paperwork. Told my first sergeant about my leaving MONTHS in advance, but he still acted like I was leaving him in the lurch with no warning.

[TOhioLiberal]

61. In a 'Discussion' with a local...

...repub, I mentioned that the reservists and the National Guard didn't exactly sign up for this. Generally it USED to be 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks in the summer. He said, and I quote: 'Show me in the contract they signed that they get that...' I said, 'hello? Hasn't that been part of their campaign for DECADES?'

This was right after he told me I had no right to empathize with the soldiers since I didn't serve. :banghead: :grr:

[Debau2005]

80. Yes, but...

My deployed soldier was on the IRR list. He served his time in active duty after college. He had to be on the list for so long after he left active duty. He was called off that list and dumped into a unit of people he did not know. On the day the letter came my world stopped. As of now, I don't know when that world will re-start. The military will not tell us when his deployment time is up. One year boots in country will be August 17. The letter was vague on how long he had to serve.

So to that repug, all I can say is we do have empathy, he did serve, did his duty honorably and now wants to be allowed to get out when his time is up. However, because of Stop Loss we don't think he will be allowed out anytime soon. I fully expect that he will come home in the next few months. We will just about get readjusted and he will be called back out.

I can honestly say that I have ALWAYS been a Liberal Democrat, I was raised that way. But I have never had the true feelings of dislike, distrust, and distaste for an administration like I do now. If one of the current administration was on fire outside my door, I would not spit on them to put them out. I am just tired. And I worry that my relationship will not last this crisis, and it is not for lack of trying on both sides. Also the repugs need to remember that those from the IRR do not get the family help and support that the Guard and active duties do. I can not find support, the bases around tell me that they'll let me know if they find others in my situation and we can form our own group. I am still waiting....

[bornagainhuman]

97. stay strong

and fight for that relationship dont let them take that from you. At the end of all this you can look back and say that the only thing they took from you was time. Dont let those bastards take one more damn thing from you so stay true stay strong and there are those of us here who know whata you are going thru.

[Debau2005]

98. THANK YOU!

Finding this forum has been one of the highlights of my year!!

I think my friends were getting tired of my rants, and are glad I have found another outlet. haha

:loveya:

[pgh_dem]

84. kinda like their numbers in the november election...

We can assume that if they were "good" (aka heavy B*), we'd never hear the end of it.

As it is...not a peep.

[proud patriot]

25. curious

hmm

[Cocoa]

28. "information must be reasonably scrutinized and explained to the public"

:rofl:

[tgnyc]

29. In other words, we need time

to come up with our excuse.

[truthisfreedom]

30. and doctor the numbers. arthur anderson style.

[smoogatz]

31. Attention freepers!

Better sign up--the A-rabs is after yore women folk, and us librul pantywaists ain't gonna pertect 'em. Seriously--if you're an able-bodied supporter of this war, get your Republican ass down to the recruiters and sign on the dotted line. Or shut the fuck up.

[liwkenne]

33. Translation of "information must be reasonably scrutinized and explained"

"We need extra time to meet, discuss these figures, and practice the vacuous comments we'll make when the information is released."

[AndyTiedye]

34. They Can't Diebold Those Numbers!

They can rig some of the polls, they can rig elections,
but they can't Diebold the recruitment numbers!
Nobody wants to fight the Crusade. Not even the Fundies themselves.
They will try to push through THE DRAFT.
We must make every possible effort to prevent this!
Then the Crusade must end.

[ClintonTyree]

41. Sure they can.....

they can lie just like they've lied about everything else about this illegal war. It comes very easily after awhile, it's second nature to them. They'll lie, Congress will want to see the real numbers and bush will stonewall and refuse to give them the documents for "national security" reasons. They'll lie, they'll have to. Either that or admit to Americans that their entire reason for this war was a lie and that "The War On Terror" is unable to be won.

[AndyTiedye]

51. Sure, They Can Lie About the Recruitment Numbers, But What Good Is That?

They still aren't going to have troops to fight their fucking war.



They are secretly planning to reinstate the draft, of course.

[ClintonTyree]

70. That doesn't matter....

it's all part of the big lie. During Viet Nam they fudged the "body counts" of NVA so badly that, had they been true, the entire population of North Viet Nam would have been obliterated several times over.
It's not the fact that they won't have the soldiers that bothers them, it's the numbers. As long as they can fudge the numbers to make Americans believe there's no problem, there's no problem!
They'll just use their "leaner, meaner" Army that they have and drive them into the ground. When that fails, and it's failing now, sooner or later they'll have to institute the draft. It's coming, oh, it's coming!

[AndyTiedye]

88. Of Course, They Are Secretly Ramping Up the DRAFT

They have been staffing-up all the long-empty slots in the local draft boards,
and they are under orders to be ready to start conscription on 90 days notice.

They'll need another bloody MIHOP to push it through.
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:_mS0BNTxCvgJ:sf.indymedia.org/uploads/reichstag_fire__september_11.jpg
They hope they have the CIA and the FBI locked-down enough to prevent
any leaks, but they are not sure.
That is the only thing holding them back at this point.

[liwkenne]

35. Here's is my favorite quote from the story

Asked whether the move to postpone the release of the recruiting figures would simply delay the release of bad news, Air Force Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke said, "That's not necessarily true," noting that "we expect the numbers to improve during the summer months."

Excellent point. I'm sure lots of kids will get bored over the long summer months - going to the beach, hanging out with friends, etc. They'll probably want to sign up to go to a war instead.

[brentspeak]

40. Hey, I TRIED to enlist

Back in Nov.2002. They said they couldn't take me because I was taking Paxil. They had their chance.

[angryxyouth]

42. This information will not be released

For national security reasons.

[DaDeacon]

44. Ah waiting to see the High School grads in urban & rural areas! (n/t)

[cat starbuck]

45. True Story

Recruiters have been after my 18 year old nephew, and thanks to "No Child Left Behind" they have his address and telephone number.

His mother told them to stop calling the house, so they called his cell phone, trying to "befriend" him. They told him they could get his college paid for, enroll him with the best Kung-fu teachers, get him a job, etc etc, and the biggest lie, he wouldn't have to go to Iraq. (I suppose they plan to send him to IRAN.)

They came to his work night before last, and asked if he could come out to the parking lot for a few minutes. They talked him into going for a ride, and the next thing he knew, they had him in some hotel with a few other kids. I don't think he knew where he was. They told him he could call his mom to tell her that they were going to take him to the regional center in the morning for some tests. Then they took his phone away from him.

The next morning they woke him up at 4 am and had him sign papers....he has no idea what they were he was still half asleep. They told him it was consent for "tests". Then they took him to Seattle where the regional center is and held him all day.

They never fed him during any of this time, He's afraid he signed up for the Marines!

Our family went down to the regional center yesterday, had to sign in, get badges, and wait. He was never told we were there. We saw him come out of a door, and literally grabbed him, told the recruiter that there was an impending death in the family, and got him out of there.

Today they called his work 4 times, even after the owner told them the first time not to call anymore. I suppose they hoped to get him fired.

My sister in law tried to get the recruiter's telephone number blocked from her phone, but was told that they can't block recruiters! She had to change to an unlisted new phone number.

He's very shaken by this experience. He's learned the hard way that there's no such thing as letting them have an inch, evenif all you want is info. They take it all. He's got an appointment with a lawyer in the morning to see what can be done, and just what it was they had him sign.

Thanks to the CRAPTASTIC MEDIA, my sister in law had no idea that recruitment was down so far, and that they are trying anything they can to get a kids' name on a contract.

I learned today that although this president was voted in, (and that's debatable), only 1% of his supporters actually have children enlisted in the military.

If THEIR children signed up, then they wouldn't have to "kidnap" our kids to fight their freaking bloody war!

[DaDeacon]

46. Damn, sue them boys sh*tless. Tell your local media investigative team

Tell your local media investigative team. Even if they are just local this story, if true has good legs, and could really be a local ratings hit! News is going slow and this story is full of public "rage".

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

69. Yeah, like that will work... there is a fly on Martha's ass

that bears a resemblance to the Virgin Mary crying french toast if you look at it in the right light on Sunday morning.

Get real... ain't no TV gonna cover this unless the mom and dad are congresscritters.

[Lindsay]

47. That's a horrifying story, cat starbuck.

And welcome to DU.

[hadrons]

48. wow ... this story blew me away.

I had a friend who was pestered by recruiters (this was around 1992, so they weren't too aggressive, but he lived in a small town at the time) when he got out of HS, but he always carried a small, but mean looking, knife and when he was being shitted by a recruiter he pulled the knife out and pointed it right to the recruiter's eye and said 'can I keep the knife in boot camp???'

They never bother him again ... I wouldn't recommend that to your nephew though

[Robeson]

52. Wow, so now they're having to Shaghai American kids to go fight...

...a war for neo-cons. Disgusting.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

71. Un belivable. I am spreading this story far and wide

I hope this is not a joke.

[cat starbuck]

107. Worry, because this is NOT a Joke.

My nephew was VERY embarrassed, because the entire family (and we have a large liberal family) called him and asked him why he went with them. He can't explain it, so I think got intimidated.

After talking to the lawyer, though, he lost his embarrassment about the situation, and is going to talk to a reporter from the Seattle Times tomorrow. My sister in law called up a reporter named Susan Painter (Paynter?) and she seemed pretty outraged, having a teenage son herself.

I hope she decides this is noteworthy enough to write up some kind of warning for parents to read. I hope teenagers can learn something from this too.


I talked to my boss, (we are all talking to as many people about this as possible) and she told me that her son went into the Marines at the time of Desert Storm. He was taught that if he felt his life was in danger, to try to take out at least 7 people before they got him. Once he was stateside, his girlfriend shook him awake, and he freaked and put her in the hospital.

Thank goodness our Chicken-Hawk-in-Command can somehow sleep at night, after cutting VA benefits for these poor souls.

[ClintonTyree]

73. What a horrible story!

These recruiters need to be reigned in. Their tactics have become more brazen and are starting to resemble the old "press gangs" of England.
PLEASE, fight these bastards every inch of the way, for your nephew's sake. Get a freaking restraining order if you can. This is definitely harassment of the worst magnitude and let them know in no uncertain terms that your nephew IS NOT a candidate for bush's illegal oil war.
Good luck and God bless.

[bornagainhuman]

78. WOW ........ please keep us updated

and take action everything you can maybe this could be cause for another "recruiting stand down" they obviously didnt get the point the first time with enought press you might be able to take this far enough to reach those who are thinking about talking to a recruiter and the parents who dont know what goes on at those recruiter stations.

[Oreo]

82. You need to get this story out

Call your Senators and Congressmen. Write a letter to the editor. It sounds like he was kidnapped.

[demo dutch]

95. I am sure that there is a legal case here, this is harassment!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

105. I would like to ask where you saw that 1% of

Bush voters have kids in the military.

[cat starbuck]

108. It was one of the sites I went through...

...in the mad rush to find out how we could get him out of this! I googled terms like "Breaking contract with military" and "anti-recruiters". I'd like to find the site myself, so I'll keep looking, now that he's safe and sound, and the frantic frenzy has died down.

[cat starbuck]

109. UPDATE! It made the press!

Here's the link to the story:
<a href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/paynter/227497_paynter08.html">Seattle Post Intelligencer</a>

Those in the Seattle area can also catch an interview my sister in law had with Kiro Channel 7-- 6 o'clock news tonight.

[Maeve]

110. Wow...just jaw-dropping...wow.

:wow:

[emald]

49. Here is the response from a young high schooler freeper...

On David Corn's site <http://www.davidcorn.com/2005/05/a_nonews_alert.php> scroll down the responses to the ninth reply; here is a snip...

"...You all have the right to your opinions and the wonderful thing about this country is your allowed to shoot your mouths off as much about is as you want. How ever i live 2 hours from New York, and currently a college student, at the time of 9/11 i was in high school and holding friends as they used my cell phone to call there parents and loved ones who worked in and around the twin towers, and got no answer, was not a pleasent experince, and i commend Bush for him makeing it his priority to make sure is doesn't happening again.
To clarify i get this alot, if he ever called for troops, started the draft i would enlist, and go to fight so my friends and family would be safe. There is no doubt in my mind that he is the right president for the time.

thanx for being open minded enough to read what i had to say
anthony..." If he ever called for troops I would enlist, thats what this well educated baby had to say. But he hasn't has he? Just a bunch of bluff and bluster, just like his presneck king. If this is what this country is made up of then there is little hope for it.

You really need to read the entire reply. Wow, how dumb and short sited this individual is. I really am afraid for my country if this is at all representative of the current crop of young people. I'm flabbergasted at his spelling, his words, and his lack of ability to make sense of the world.

[ClintonTyree]

74. Writes like a freeper...........

poor grammar, mangled syntax, miserable spelling....the kid's a natural! Why didn't he enlist right after high school? bush IS calling for troops, get your young ass to the recruitment center, NOW! Your oil companies need you! The Army will even pay for your College education when (if) you ever get out! :shrug:
Sounds like a junior Tom DeLay. "I would have gone, but all the good jobs were taken by minorities"!! Or another DICK Cheney, "I had other priorities!"
Another chickenhawk who'd rather bluster from the sidelines than fight for his "the right president at the right time". :eyes: bush has turned out to be the exact opposite. He's the WORST possible president at the WORST possible time. :grr:

[northzax]

85. he actually makes a god point

Bush has never once called for increased enlistment in the Military to fight this war. Not once has Rummy said "your country needs you, sign up" Why should people volunteer, if the President doesn't even say he needs it?

Seriously, I can make an ethical arguement to support the war (I don't, but bear with me) and not enlist, because noone has ever told me that I am needed. This is a war without sacrafice from the civilian population, the President hasn't said "Your country needs you" there hasn't been a call to action, why enlist? seriously.

[IndianaGreen]

53. Excellent observation, hadrons, about Friday being a bad news dump day

The Pentagon already knows what those numbers are, and they know what the actual recruiting trends have been. They must be lower than what they expected!

[Ilsa]

58. Rub, rub, massage, massage, massage. The Pentagon is

recruiting massage therapists to work over their numbers.

[oxbow]

59. Wow. Those #'s must be really bad. they've never done this before

[SodoffBush]

60. May stats are bound to be lower than April's missed goal (by 42%)

Pat Tillman's dad gave his views of the Army in late May, so you know that June's goals are shot to hell. The snowball effect will take place in July and Aug.

[Horse with no Name]

62. Several "interesting" points

"...this information must be reasonably scrutinized and explained to the public, which deserves the fullest insight into military performance in this important area"

In other words, we need to be able to reasonably explain to the American people why your kids are going to be shipped off in two weeks to fight this war.

"...we expect the numbers to improve during the summer months"

Of course the numbers will improve. The draft will ensure that.

[bornagainhuman]

64. BUSH DRAFT CARTOON HALRIOUS MUST SEE

sorry but i have to put this out there it is so funny you all have to see this it had me rolling on the floor laughing so hard
http://toccionline.kizash.com/films/1001/138/index.php

[darkism]

65. Oh...my....

HAH! That is pure gold.

Time for a motherfuckin' D.R.A.F.T.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

72. They forgot to recruit in POLAND!

[Bullshot]

75. Military recruiting numbers would meet quotas if the chickenhawks

would put their money where their mouths are. I'm talking about all of these bozos who will argue with you over the legitimacy of the war in Iraq; the people who have their cars, vans and SUVs covered with their "Bless our troops" magnets; their bumpers covered with "W" stickers; and who will still argue over Bush's competency as president.

[bornagainhuman]

76. bless our troops

not all of those who have the bless our troops stickers support the war. i assure you that those of us in the military need to be blessed as we are at the mercy of a mad man and i dont mean the terrorist.

[Nickster]

77. Well, it's obviously a great new victory

Will they handle the recruiting numbers like they handle the jobs data...announce great job increases and then go back a few months later and adjust the numbers downward? Betchya these May numbers show 110% recruiting to plan, then in August downward adjusted to 40% of plan.

[obliocactus]

83. Draft?

One thing that keeps being repeated by the right is, "Oh, of course, we won't have a draft, absolutely not! ... But even if we did, it would only be for people with special technical skills, not for regular troops."

Well, they gotta start somewhere.

Watch the hell out for these liars and creeps. If they're going to start the draft, which I fear they may have to, in order to support their aims, they aren't going to do it suddenly.

Eyes open, everybody.

[Dora]

81. They took one of ours

They promised $20,000 to my cousin, an 18 year old kid whose biggest wish is a new truck with cool tires and rims. My god, and it seems to me like he was born just last year.

They moved him fast, too. He graduated from high school on May 24, and was on his way to boot camp on the 26th. His mother is devastated but strong.

[kissmygrits]

90. Also taking learning disabled and retarded 18 year olds

I work on disability case reviews of children who are Borderline Intellegent, mentally retarded and learning disabled, who have just turned 18 and no longer meet childhood disability standards. I have quite a few cases of these youngsters that just graduated and have been recruited and going into boot camp this fall. I'm talking about kids with IQs in the 50's and 60's and who can not read and write and have been in Special Ed classes and promoted socially. No way in hell could these kids pass an entrance exam. I sure would not want them guarding my back in a battle situation. What's going on here? I thought the military had some standards that would apply to new recruits and would bar these youngsters from entering. Things must be really BAD!!!!.

[FighttheFuture]

96. Poor sucker.... fell sorry for you, but...

sounds like he sold his soul for a few gold pieces. Hope he survives.

I have a similar situation with a nephew who joined the AF before 9/11 on a 6 year tour. Then is was more of an alternate career path. He tested well and is a mechanic. He has an offer to leave early form his stint. I warned him against it but he took it. I feel he will be called back in soon enough with less pay, benefits and options while serving longer than if he had just stayed until the end.

Youth rarely listens, so it is doomed to learn what age already knows.

[Endangered Specie]

89. It takes them a while to fluff up the numbers I guess

:shrug:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

91. It's a sad say for PNAC. Their followers aren't supporting them

They like to put up a front of having lots of warm bodies waiting in line to die for bush's cause. It's supposed to help to keep the rest of the world living in fear of the mighty US and our formidable military.

The lines are gone, we've lowered our standards for enlistment and still can't meet quotas. We've manned the draft boards so the world knows we mean business! Don't mess with us, well draft our kids and send them to come get you if we have to. The only problem with that is the rest of the world knows it will be the death of more than our kids. The Republican party WILL fall if they reinstate a draft. Most of the Republicans know this, too.

I bet somewhere in Washington DC a neo-con is weeping right now.

[Callboy]

92. i hope all the soccer dads are happy now

they vote for their moral high ground or whatever and now johnny will have to lace up the army boots. nice job. if you voted repub you are complicit in this whole mes

[spanone]

93. They need time to fudge the numbers

[demo dutch]

94. PEOPLE!!! they're including the first 10 days of June into May because

it's after graduation and they will able to add in all the high School grads. How pathetic!

[Joey Liberal]

100. They need time to cook the books n/t

[Gman]

103. Maybe nobody signed up

and they're just verifying the information.

[Roland99]

104. *** I think we have found the reason why!! ***

DoD assumes responsibility for releasing recruiting stats
Individual services no longer authorized to announce numbers at beginning of the month
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-892069.php

The Army and Marine Corps, as they struggle with recruiting shortfalls, will no longer announce their monthly recruiting numbers at the beginning of each month.

Instead, the Defense Department will approve the release of recruiting statistics for all four services.

Normally, each service releases its monthly statistics at the beginning of each month, but a spokesman for Marine Corps Recruiting Command said on Wednesday that he was no longer authorized to do so.

<...>

“We just wanted to release all the information at the same time. It’s all the numbers at once, instead of one service coming out on this day of the month and another service coming out on another day of the month,” Krenke said.