Military targets high schoolers to fill ranks

[Scooter24]

Military targets high schoolers to fill ranks

By ROBERT M. COOK
Staff Writer

ROCHESTER — Linda Durant feels mixed emotions whenever military recruiters come to Spaulding High School to meet with students.

As head of the school’s guidance department, Durant, a Farmington resident, maintains as professional and a courteous working relationship with the military as possible. If recruiters request a complete list of names, addresses and telephone numbers of senior class members, she provides it as required by law.

But because her son, who just turned 21, is serving in Iraq with the N.H. Army National Guard after he enlisted two years ago, seeing others make the same choice isn’t easy for her.

Guard recruiters plan to be more visible in high schools than they have in the past.

The Pentagon is encouraging recruiters to reach out to more high school students, using the lures of serving their country, free college tuition and thousands of dollars in enlistment bonuses.

Army Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said last week the 350,000-strong Guard will miss its goal for 2003 of 56,000 recruits by about 5,000 recruits, or 9 percent. As a result, Blum said he will increase the number of recruiters and put more effort into targeting high school and college students.

http://www.fosters.com/October_2004/10.03.04/news/sea_100g.asp

[Kolesar]

1. An assured deployment to Iraq

Why don't they recruit in fundamentalist American Sunday schools instead?

[JuniperLea]

2. my daughter has been hounded

by phone by a recruiter. i told her to tell him we are catholic and the pope says she can't kill people.

i'm betting they don't do this to students in ivy league prep schools.

[Scooter24]

4. I went to

a prep school which did not receive federal funding. The school had a strict policy of not releasing students info to anyone, including the military, so I never received a call from a recruiter.

The "No Child Left Behind" Act says only those schools that receive federal funds have to release student information to recruiters upon request. That is unless the parent opts out.

[MSgt213]

3. Military has recruited in High Schools and Colleges for years now.

Guess what they do malls and every where else you find 17 to 18 yr olds. This is not new news or new presence. What would be news if would be if they started going to day care centers.

[Scooter24]

5. I believe

the article was trying to emphasize the need for more high school/college students to fill in the remaining gaps and that they are going to be more emphatic in the process.

[MSgt213]

6. My point is that they get them to fill up the ranks in the first

place in High Schools that's the main source. There really is nothing to step up on that front. Recruiters were all ready attending every high school after school event they can, teaching classes, flying teachers and administrators out to the bases and recruit training so they can see what their kids are doing after they join, giving tests, attending lunch time setups, waiting in the parking lot for the bell to ring and every thing else they could do to maintain a presence in every school they are assigned. High schools have always been the main fishing pond.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

7. Children killing children. This gives me rage.

There should be a minimum age of 30 to join the military so you know what atrocities and oil wars are.

Get em young and dumb and give em a gun.

[Wcross]

8. I think they should recruit us old farts......

To old to run so retreats would never happen. "We have to run away? You want me to RUN? Ha, I would rather stay here and fight."

We old farts are cranky and irritable already so it wouldn't take much to work us up to kill.

We already get up early (to pee) so it wouldn't be difficult to adjust to military life.

The baggy military clothes would hide our flab.

Military rations would be good for our regularity.

No need to worry about sexual harassment, as long as we get a nap after dinner we will be fufilled.

[tabasco]

9. Good one!

LMAO B-)