Uncle Sam hustle to keep the ranks filled: targeting the young, the military's recruitment tactics pitch a job with enticing perks—and the rarely mentioned chance to kill or be killed

National Catholic Reporter, March 21, 2003 by Claire Schaeffer-Duffy

The military/college liaison provides one of the most persuasive incentives for enlistment and supports the defense department's longstanding goal to elevate the skill level of the armed forces. Constantly comparing itself to the civilian sector, the defense department views college as a competitor for the pool of available youth. This year, the military plans to increase the amount of scholarship available to recruits.

Most branches of the armed services have a College Fund, tuition assistance offered as an added incentive for recruits who enlist in hard-to-fill Military Operational Services. In the Army, a soldier who signs up for the infantry, Special Forces or combat engineering would qualify for the fund.

In addition, any veteran with an honorable discharge can apply for GI benefits to defray college costs. The amount given applicants is contingent upon time served. For example, a soldier with two years of active duty receives monthly installments of $732 for 36 academic months. Those with three to six years of military service receive up to $900 a month.

Through a combination of College Fund and GI benefits, the military can provide a maximum of $50,000 in tuition assistance.

Because many entering the Army already have a college education, the Army is now offering student loan repayment as an incentive, according to spokesman Lt. Col. Ryan Yantis. The Army offers $65,000 toward student loans to those who enlist for three years in active duty. Yantis described the arrangement as the military's payback for the benefits of acquiring a soldier already trained in a specific field.

In 2000, the Army launched Partnership for Youth Success (PAYS) a program in which dozens of U.S. companies and nonprofit organizations offer preferential hiring to soldiers who serve two to four years then join the job market. Initiated during a time of low unemployment and low enlistment--in 1999 the Army missed its recruiting quota for active duty by 6,300--PaYS was designed to undercut competition for youth employment between the military and civilian sector.

"We recognize we can no longer be competing for the same young people," Suzanne Carlton, then special assistant to the Army Chief of Staff told USA Today in June 2000. The newspaper described PaYS as "an unprecedented alliance between the military and corporations." The Army bills it as both a recruiting device and a way to "reconnect America with the Army."

As a recruiting device, PaYS has been effective, enticing 13,825 recruits into the Army over the past two and a half years.

Kevin Ramirez, who works for the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, admits the military has been successful in dissuading young people from considering the context of their career option.

"Contrary to what many people think, a young person who joins the military isn't thinking about war, oddly enough," said Ramirez, 28, coordinator for the committee's Military Out of Our Schools Program. "The reason for this is the way they advertise the military. Shooting guns, things blowing up, bombs dropping. That isn't in the commercials. Instead, the benefits of military life are emphasized."