A colleague today pointed me to this story by a former colleague. (I was Dave’s editor when he was The State‘s military writer, a service he now performs for USA Today. We were also members of the legendarily bad, and aptly named, softball team — the Cosmic Ha-Has. Small world.)
This story, the thrust of which is that "Soldiers are re-enlisting at rates ahead of the Army’s targets, even as overall recruiting is suffering after two years of the Iraq war," sheds new light on a topic that I addressed in a recent column, light that shows us some good news amid the bad. And it does more than that.
Dave wrote:
Army officials attribute the strong re-enlistment rates to unprecedented cash bonuses and a renewed sense of purpose in fighting terrorism.
The first of those factors can be quantified, and Dave did so in his story — X percentage of soldiers getting between Y and Z amounts in re-up bonuses. But the second part is what strikes me.
Note the contrast: People who are already in the Army, and in many cases exposed to fire in Iraq, are re-enlisting beyond the Army’s hopes and expectations. In other words, the ones who actually know what it’s all about are signing up for additional hitches. Meanwhile, the young people who really don’t know much about the military beyond the 24/7 news reports about IEDs and suicide bombers are not signing up in needed numbers, despite the fact that impressive bonuses and personal benefits are dangled in front of them, too.
Why is that?
Dave quotes Col. Debbra Head, who tracks retention from the Pentagon, as saying that "The biggest thing is that soldiers believe in what they are doing." It’s easy for me to believe that, because I believe in what they’re doing, and I truly appreciate what they’re doing, because I believe it is enormously important to America, to Iraq, to the Mideast and to the world. I believe there’s nothing more important that an American could be doing right now than what they’re doing (they’re certainly making more a contribution than I am). And in their own, quiet way — letting their actions, in re-enlisting, speak for them — they’re letting us know that that’s what they think, too.
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Hate to say it, but your former collegue who wrote the USA Today article swallowed a story floated from Army officials hook, line, and sinker.
The article, however, does not gibe with the facts on the ground, which is probably something he would know if he actually talked to the soldiers on a routine basis.
Did those same officials from the Army tell your former collegue that the Army has been readjusting their recruitment goals downwards lately? Are you sure that this isn’t the case in this matter?
And what about the deceptive and manipulative practices being used to get soldiers to re-up? Those practices were reported at Fort Collins in Colorado, but would you be surprised to know that they occurred at Fort Bragg too?
These threats are real. I have soldiers and veteran Army officers replying to my journal, telling me about how soldiers are essentially getting forced to serve for years longer than they signed up for.
Take this soldier, for instance. He was told that he had to serve an extra year above the three he signed up for because he was deployed to Germany. That’s nothing, however, compared to the soldiers in his unit who were deployed to the U.S. They had to serve an extra two years! (Read the comments, as it becomes clearer what the situation is.)
So, please, before you unquestioningly spread the good news from the Army brass, talk to the soldiers first!
Brad –
The comment from Mark Kraft no doubt resulted from my posting links to Dave Moniz’ story and your blog to MetaFilter, so blame me.
(By the way, if my last name looks vaguely familiar, my mother, Ruth McClain, was The State‘s newsroom receptionist for several years.)
As I read various media reports relative to increasing percentages of racism & discriminatory practices throughout America,I am wondering if anyone else sees the possibility that some minority groups (rightly or wrongly)might believe that this racial escalation is directly related to the Republican takeover of Congress and most of the States?
Secondly,if this perception exists and simmers,isn’t America playing into the hands of our enemies by possibly providing more recruits from within to help defeat her?
Hopefully,there is some other reason for the rise in racism.I am interested in your thoughts/comments.
iddie makel –
What are the “increasing percentages of racism & discriminatory practices throughout America” that you read about? If you don’t have links, an outline and a couple of details would suffice.
Thanks
Good analysis of reenlistment stats here.
And here’s a guy who loves his work.
Hello Mike,
Thanks for responding.For a start MSNBC has a section “race in America” that covers many incidents.I am astounded that there is still so much racism in the year 2005 and wonder how badly this is hurting America within the world community.The southern poverty law center lists over 500 hate groups within the U.S.,and reports that South Carolina currently has over 40 active hate groups.I assume this is true or someone would sue.Our own Governor recently stated on Television that he did not see the possibility of a minority person achieving a high state office anytime in the near future.I think his honesty speaks volumes,and I don’t think he was being racist,I think he was merely pointing out how sad the state of politics is in South Carolina.The Governor of Maryland who is white was recently taken to task for holding a fund raiser at a private club in Maryland where his own Lt.Governor who is black cannot become a member.The list goes on and on.
It’s really amazing how many people have been utterly duped by this story. The army lowered its goals, then exceeded them, and thousands of people are now declaring that re-enlistments are “up.” This is a commentary on both American ignorance and of the desperation of Bush apologists for good news.
Cool stuff. Keep up the good work. Port aBuayar: http://www.i-marco.nl/weblog/archive/2005/09/06/mint__a_review_with_a_differen , No proof of ideas