DoD Official Defends Felony Waivers

[unhappycamper]

DoD Official Defends Felony Waivers
April 25, 2008
Military.com|by Bryant Jordan

About 20 percent of all recruits in the U.S. military enter the service with either a medical or conduct waiver, a senior Pentagon official said today.

Last year the services recruited more than 181,000 new members, more than 36,000 of whom came in on some sort of waiver.

About one third of the new recruits were admitted with medical problems and the remainder were waived in despite past criminal activities -- including misdemeanors and some felonies, said Bill Carr, the Pentagon's deputy undersecretary for military personnel policy.

That means about one in five recruits have one waiver or another, Carr told military bloggers April 25.

The Pentagon took a public relations hit April 21 when a congressional committee released figures showing that the Army more than doubled the number of felons it admitted between 2006 and 2007 -- from 249 to 511. The Marine Corps' numbers also went up, though by a lower percentage, from 208 in 2006 to 350, or about 75 percent.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/dod-official-defends-felony-waivers.html?col=1186032310810

[Vogon_Glory]

1. Historical Perspective

At the risk of arousing the wrath of some of DU's military veterans (I salute you all for your service to the country!), I can't help but remember the Duke of Wellington's comment about many of his soldiers and those of his allies and opponents: "The scum of Europe, recruited for drink." Thank heavens this is NOT true in 21st century America! But while 200 years have passed and the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of the people who enlist in the US military are good, decent people, I can't help but wonder if at least a select few of the one-time villains recruited by the Army and the Marines might deserve a second chance and an opportunity to transform themselves into something better.