Lower standards help Army recruit more

[ProSense]

Lower standards help Army recruit more

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer Mon Oct 9, 7:34 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army recruited more than 2,600 soldiers under new lower aptitude standards this year, helping the service beat its goal of 80,000 recruits in the throes of an unpopular war and mounting casualties.

The recruiting mark comes a year after the Army missed its recruitment target by the widest margin since 1979, which had triggered a boost in the number of recruiters, increased bonuses, and changes in standards.

The Army recruited 80,635 soldiers, roughly 7,000 more than last year. Of those, about 70,000 were first-time recruits who had never served before.

According to statistics obtained by The Associated Press, 3.8 percent of the first-time recruits scored below certain aptitude levels. In previous years, the Army had allowed only 2 percent of its recruits to have low aptitude scores. That limit was increased last year to 4 percent, the maximum allowed by the Defense Department.

Snip...

About 17 percent of the first-time recruits, or about 13,600, were accepted under waivers for various medical, moral or criminal problems, including misdemeanor arrests or drunk driving. That is a slight increase from last year, the Army said.

Of those accepted under waivers, more than half were for "moral" reasons, mostly misdemeanor arrests. Thirty-eight percent were for medical reasons and 7 percent were drug and alcohol problems, including those who may have failed a drug test or acknowledged they had used drugs.

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[Erika]

1. W's military

Why not institute a draft where all had an equal chance at serving?

[madrchsod]

2. when i went to my physical (in the 60`s)

there were guys sleeping during the "intelligence test" so the army guys wrote a number on the test paper and then woke them up for the next test...i wonder if they are getting that desperate again?

[TomInTib]

3. This reminds me of way back when..

I was allowed to enlist in the Navy to escape what was, at the time, the largest really-bad-shit bust in Texas history.

My family was friends with the District Att'y of Harris (Houston) County, Texas.

If I would have had any idea of what was to come, I would have probably chosen to go to trial.

[pork medley]

4. fantastic. more mahmoudiya "incidents"

[0007]

5. junior and his standards

[ProSense]

6. In Iraq, contractor deaths near 650, legal fog thickens

In Iraq, contractor deaths near 650, legal fog thickens

By Bernd Debusmann, Special Correspondent
1 hour, 42 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The war in Iraq has killed at least 647 civilian contractors to date, according to official figures that provide a stark reminder of the huge role of civilians in supporting the U.S. military.

The contractor death toll is tracked by the U.S. Department of Labor on the basis of claims under an insurance policy, the Defense Base Act, that all U.S. government contractors and subcontractors working outside the United States must take out for their civilian employees.

In response to questions from Reuters, a Labor Department spokesman said there had been 647 claims for death benefits between March 1, 2003, and September 30, 2006. The Defense Base Act covers both Americans and foreigners, and there is no breakdown of the nationalities of those killed. The Pentagon does not monitor civilian contractor casualties.

The death toll of civilians working alongside U.S. forces in Iraq compares with more than 2,700 military dead and, experts say, underscores the risks of outsourcing war to private military contractors.

Their number in Iraq is estimated at up to 100,000, from highly-trained former special forces soldiers to drivers, cooks, mechanics, plumbers, translators, electricians and laundry workers and other support personnel.

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