My hat is off to parents, coaches and other "influencers"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/09/AR2007070901590.html

Army's Recruiting Goal Lags For Second Month in a Row

By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 10, 2007; Page A07

The U.S. Army fell short of its active-duty recruiting goal for June by about 15 percent, defense officials said yesterday. It is the second consecutive month the service's enlistment effort has faltered amid the American public's growing discontent over the war in Iraq.

Army officials confirmed yesterday that the service missed its June target -- the first time its recruiters have missed their monthly mark twice in a row since they were hit hard in 2005 -- but declined to discuss specific numbers before a scheduled release today. Three defense officials said the Army fell short by about 1,400 soldiers, well shy of its goal of 8,400 for June. snip

Mirroring concerns in 2005, when the Army fell thousands short of its monthly goals during much of the year, defense officials said that a good economy and lack of encouragement for military service from parents, coaches and other "influencers" have caused the recruiting slump. The Iraq war's sharp decline in popularity has also made recruiting far more difficult, as many recruits almost certainly will deploy to the battlefield.

"If you don't think that's affecting the influencers, then you have your head under a rock," said one Pentagon official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the June numbers have not yet been released.

I tried to "influence" my sister to be supportive of her then-18-yr-old son's interest in joining the military. He was at loose ends, had quit college after a year, working at a car wash, thought he might like to be a state trooper...and recruiters had been 'working' him for a year or so.

She feared for "what if we get into a war" and I tried to say there are risks everywhere, and the risk/reward for his potentially getting good leadership training and into his chosen career weighed in favor of his joining up.

I think of this every time I add a name to my KIA website, which is, of course, 3-4 per day. So glad that I was not the "influencer." Had I spoken directly with him on the subject, I might have been. I would not have presumed to do that, of course, without her agreement.

What is terrifying about this, though, is that once this nightmare is over, we are going to have such a depleted military force for years to come that if we DO get drawn into a major confrontation, our options will be limited.

My huband taught high school last year. One day an army recruiter came in during a first hour class looking for a particular student. The student happened to be absent for that class. And the next two days.

When the student returned, my husband told him the recruiter had been there. The kid told my husband that he skipped school because this recruiter had been harrassing him, even tho the student had told the recruiter that he didn't want to enlist. The student was in tears by the end of the explanation. The recruiter never bothered this kid at home, only at school (NCLB, anyone?).

Next time the recruiter showed up, hubby had a 'heart to heart' with the recruiter and notified the school administration.

Desperation and blind patriotism get kids killed.

there is NO chance in hell he will ever sign up.

I still haven't made my call to them to waste their time which will hopefully save some other young innocent person from falling for their bullshit.

The recruiters are driving some nifty sports cars.
They get these boys (from the high school or the junior college or working at McDonalds or whatever) who want to take these cars for a spin, and let them drive them and then tell them that they too can afford a car like this if they just sign the dotted line.
IT makes me sick.