US Army trying desperately to recruit

Catholic New Times, Jan 16, 2005

WorldNet magazine has reported that the U.S. Army has evacuated an estimated 50,000 KIA, WIA and non-battle casualties from Iraq back to the States leaving 50,000 slots that have had to be filled.

With a billion dollar recruiting effort, shockingly portrayed in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, the job of finding fresh bodies to keep units topped up falls mainly to the Army Recruiting Command. The Army National Guard is faring no better. A Guard retention NCO says: "The word is out on the streets of Washington, D.C. 'Do not join the Guard.' I see these words echoing right across the U.S.A."

"The bottom line is that Recruiting Command is in trouble," says another recruiter with almost 30 years of service. "The Army has re-instituted 'stop loss,' which is basically a backdoor draft. They're stopping people from retiring or completing their enlistment and leaving the Army. They do this fairly often, mostly in August and September, depending upon how far behind they believe they'll be at the end of September.

Moms and dads are outraged about desperate Army recruiters on a relentless campaign to sign up their teenagers. High-school kids are actually running away from recruiters.

"Recruiters have called my son a minimum of 20 times in the two years since he finished high school," a dad reports. "The phone calls usually come in clusters. I answered five calls in a two- or three-week span. Each time a recruiter calls, he receives the same polite, respectful response from me or my son ... no interest, and please take the name off the list. When asked why the name hasn't been removed, excuses are made. While recruiters are brief with me, when my son is on the phone, the sales tactics are clever, prolonged and very high-pressure."

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