Well done US armed forces – and for all those questioning the entrance requirements, get a life. Our equipment is ultra high end and has to be used in a very challenging fast paced environment – definitely not for the mentally challenged. Those folks who don’t have a proper education and can’t handle the challenges end up as liberal democrats and traitors and in academia (the preserve of those who can not make it on their own but need to suckle at the teet of the working folks in the USA – see our universities).

Gentleness optional.

The Marines Corps is reaching out to Latinos with ads in La Raza

The Army is marketing to the Latino population as well. In recent years, the numbers of African Americans applicants has started to drop off. (I could tell you why, but that would be racist.) The Army is hoping that the Latino population will help replace the drop in the African American enlistmens.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24243460/

Granted, it’s from MSNBC, however; recruiting stations are seeing an increase in the numbers of sex offenders and other felons applying for military service. The problem is that, as far as the Army is concerned, applicants that are qualified for service will not be denied.

Of the 107,410 active and reserve soldiers who joined the Army in fiscal 2007, roughly 21 percent, or 22,186, were granted waivers for medical conditions, drug and alcohol use, or misdemeanors and felonies, according to Gen. William S. Wallace, commanding general of Training and Doctrine Command.

From http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/army_AUSA_waivers_030108w/

That tells you that one in five applicants for the Army were originally disqualified and the Army either granted an exception to policy or waived a disqualifying condition.

For those of you that do not know, TRADOC is the higher command for recruiting, ROTC, and all training bases. So GEN Wallace is a big wig.

Yes, both the Army and the Marine Corps have opened enlistments to non-violent felons. The Army has also relaxed their quality requirements.

Hogman on May 12, 2008 at 7:35 PM

The Marines have had to go a “little” farther it would appear.

April 21, 2008
Sending in the Marines (to Recruit Women)
By DOUGLAS QUENQUA
THE Marines are looking for a few good women.
Actually, they will take as many as they can get. Faced with the difficulty of recruiting during a long and unpopular war, the United States Marine Corps has started marketing itself to women in a concerted way for the first time. It is running ads in magazines like Shape, Self and Fitness, which appeal mainly to female readers, as well as through more mainstream outlets like “American Idol,” where the message is a unisex one of patriotism rather than macho swagger.
The campaign is a big departure for the Marine Corps, which started accepting women for clerical duties in 1918 but until last year advertised to them only fitfully.
Women are not the only ones being courted specifically. The Marines Corps is reaching out to Latinos with ads in La Raza [Spanish for "The Race" Hey, maybe they can advertise in "Der Volk" too? No wait, what was I thinking, Germans gave that kind of racial dominance and expansionism stuff up decades ago.] newspaper that emphasize family and honor (“Each unit in the Corps is a family, and each member knows they never stand alone”), and to Arab-Americans with a message about nationality and identity (“I am American. I am Arab. I am a Marine … I know where I stand”). [Now this seems rather disturbing to me, as I think that it should be, "I am an American. I am a Marine." During my time in the Army I did not say. "I am an American. I am Germanic. I am a Soldier".]
Given the drum beat of bad news from the lingering conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, where American military casualties recently topped 4,000, the sell can be a tough one.

Is there any validity to the statements about decreasing enlistment requirements? Something to the effect you no longer must have a highschool degree or clean criminal record?

Yes, both the Army and the Marine Corps have opened enlistments to non-violent felons. The Army has also relaxed their quality requirements.

You and your moonbat Code Pinko buddies!

While the Military meeting its retainment/recruitment goals are all well and good, the choosen tactic is to sometimes lower the goal in order to meet it. Is there any evidence that that has not be done here, or any evidence to the contrary?

apollyonbob on May 12, 2008 at 4:07 PM

Thanks. I hear this stuff fly around the media, but I didn’t have a firm grip on it’s validity.

Thanks to everyone on HA that has served. God Bless You.

What did I forget?

God bless each one of them………