COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: Personnel Crunch
Probe sought over alleged recruiting lies
The Associated Press
May 11, 2007
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., has asked for a federal
investigation into reports that Army recruiters encouraged applicants to
lie so they could be accepted for military service.
Cooper, a member of the Armed Services Committee, wrote to Rep. Vic Snyder,
D-Ark., chairman of the Personnel Subcommittee of the committee, in
response to investigative reports this week on WTVF-TV in Nashville.
The stories documented Army recruiters at three locations in Middle
Tennessee urging applicants to lie about their mental health so they could
meet official military recruiting standards.
"As you know, our military is currently stretched to the breaking point,
but evading recruitment standards and weakening the integrity of our combat
forces is no way to solve the myriad problems we face," Cooper wrote.
One recruiter told an undercover reporter for the station not to disclose
his Zoloft prescription.
"Me and you are the only ones who know it ... almost like 'don't ask, don't
tell.' You don't tell," the recruiter advised the reporter.
Lt. Col. Patrick Brewington, who commands a local battalion, promised an
investigation into recruiters who appeared in the reports.
"It appears here that I have a few recruiters whose actions let the whole
organization down," he told the station.
Cooper said similar activity could be under way in other parts of the country.
"Recruiting practices such as those uncovered in Tennessee should alarm us
all, and if they are happening at three locations in Middle Tennessee, they
are likely happening elsewhere," he wrote.
He said the armed services already have been slow to diagnose and treat
serious mental health issues stemming from combat.
"If prospective soldiers are being encouraged to lie about mental illness
during intake, the problem is more widespread and fundamental than
previously known," Cooper wrote.
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