Comments on: Army Recruiting Stand-down Follows Suicides

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:15:46 +0000

Dude, everybody's recruiter lied.

Everybody in prison is innocent, too. They make you sign an incredibly lengthy contract, initialing damn near every paragraph, the gist of which is "we can make you do whatever we think is in the best interests of the Army" and "anything your recruiter told you that's not in here doesn't count."

By: steve s

steve s — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 06:05:58 +0000

I'm not going into the specifics, as I don't want to dredge that shit up, but in December 1994 I was at Lackland talking to some friends, and said, "Dude, my recruiter lied to me." and my friend Subey (so named because he survived one of the worst Boston winters on record in a Subaru) said to me, "Dude, everybody's recruiter lied. That's just how shit works." And that was in peacetime.

By: DC Loser

DC Loser — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:28:50 +0000

Sorry for the confusion. That reference to the Guard was only to my friend. He said that while in Iraq, recruiters would come through in-theater to get "their ticket punched" and go back pronto to their stateside recruiting jobs. These were active duty recruiters he was refering to.

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:22:09 +0000

Isn't this more likely a particular command problem with this battalion? Didn't I just read last week that the Army (and all the services) were having a banner year recruiting becaused of the lousy economy? I'd imagine the recruiters aren't having to work particularly hard these days to get them into the door.

Nah, the Army just raises the standards again! I'm guessing high school dropouts and other marginals who were once waivered are now shown the door. It strikes me as unlikely that a bad CO is causing mature NCOs to off themselves.

Talking with a friend in the Guard, he told me that Army recruiters are permanently assigned to that MOS and they make rank pretty quickly.

Unless things have changed, these folks are "in the Guard" in name only. They're full-time "Active Guard or Reserve" (AGR) slots.

By: DC Loser

DC Loser — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:55:51 +0000

Isn't this more likely a particular command problem with this battalion? Didn't I just read last week that the Army (and all the services) were having a banner year recruiting becaused of the lousy economy? I'd imagine the recruiters aren't having to work particularly hard these days to get them into the door. Talking with a friend in the Guard, he told me that Army recruiters are permanently assigned to that MOS and they make rank pretty quickly. He tells me the recruiters he know love the work, although I bet it takes a certain personality to do that work.

By: Bithead

Bithead — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:37:56 +0000

While I applaud the Army’s taking four suicides in one recruiting district very seriously, it could well be a tragic statistical anomaly. These four were veterans of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, coping with not only a stressful job unlike any they’ve previously had in the military but problems in their home life. There may not have been much the command could have done to prevent this.

From what I can see, it most likely IS an anomly.
That said, however, it will serve to put the army under it's recruiting goals, and will bolster the case of Charlie Rangel to get a draft going, won't it? And if you think that connection a stretch, how may we consider:“Recruiters are forced to lie and cheat to meet a quota that is unreasonably high in order to try to fix a broken Army.”

Remember, kids, that's been the prevailing attitude of the Democrats since December, 2001.