COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: Personnel Crunch
U.S. military lowers standards
Travis Holland, The Batt
November 11, 2007
Are you a kleptomaniac or stoner? Do you enjoy a good fight on
Saturday night? Then Uncle Sam wants you!
The U.S. military recently began a review to find ways to make it
easier for criminals to join. True, it would increase recruitment,
but that doesn't justify the means.
It's no secret that all branches of the military need more recruits.
This review is part of a much bigger problem the U.S. military is
facing. For 2007, every active duty branch of the U.S. military met
or exceeded its recruitment goals, but at a very high price.
Basically, recruiters are sacrificing quality for quantity. They
accepted more recruits without high school diplomas than
predetermined goals had specified. Also, about 15 percent of recruits
had to get a criminal history waiver. That ought to be raising some
eyebrows in Washington.
Instead, the government will make it easier to get in. Some of the
specific crimes in the review are fighting, stealing and using drugs.
The fact that this is even being considered says a lot. In an
environment with so many people so close, the military shouldn't be
accepting thieves and troublemakers. Not to mention, these recruits
could face combat action during their service. These aren't the kind
of people I would want next to me when my life is on the line. This
can't be the best solution to recruiting problems.
Instead of doing whatever necessary to get the numbers, the Pentagon
should take a more businesslike approach. Thinking of troops as
employees instead of recruits would be a good start. Maybe increased
pay would lower retirement rates, and the military wouldn't have to
accept some of those questionable recruits. Servicemen and women
certainly deserve increased pay. This would help curb the trend of
military personnel leaving to work in more lucrative jobs for private
firms doing a similar job.
Another option to explore is an increase in high school recruiting
programs. Recruiting harder in schools would ensure recruits have at
least a high school diploma, and allow recruiters to approach
America's best and brightest.
The military could also contract out some of its jobs. Not combat,
but some supply and support personnel could be non-military. This
would free up troops to do other jobs and could potentially be done
even cheaper. Many on- and off-base positions could be filled by
private contractors.
Whatever the military does to deal with recruitment numbers, it
shouldn't lower standards. Our military is the greatest in the world,
and it should remain that way, but that won't happen if recruitment
becomes too lax.
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