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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: unclewest who wrote (178798)	12/26/2005 12:29:59 PM
From: Nicholas Thompson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

interesting; were low goals set so that they could be exceeded?

To: unclewest who wrote (178798)	12/26/2005 10:53:29 PM
From: geode00	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

I have absolutely zero interest in the status of your 'I'm ignorant and wish to remain so' xenohobia list. You can spread whatever lies you wish to about recruiting but even the corporate media regularly reports on this issue. The Army reports that it makes it numbers but fails to report that it first LOWERS its targets. If yellow bellied, war mongering, crusading nitwit Republicans were backing up the war in reality instead of just with their yapping maws, there would be NO stories about recruiting shortfalls. In fact, there would be MANY stories in the corporate media about too many recruits for the slots available. Instead, there's this kind of INDENTURED SERVITUDE in the military BECAUSE there are too few recruits. If you had a single, solitary rational brain cell in your head, you would realize that these things aren't done for fun but out of desperation. "The Stop Loss Policy National Guard and Army Reserve members are also affected by the ongoing Stop Loss Policy, which allows the Pentagon to keep soldiers whose enlistment is due to expire in order to maintain troop strength and unit integrity. The restrictions bar voluntary separations and retirements for soldiers in designated units beginning 90 days before deployment until 90 days after their units return to their home stations. Specifically, "the President may suspend any provision of law relating to promotion, retirement, or separation applicable to any member of the armed forces who the President determines is essential to the national security of the United States." A Stop Loss order for National Guard and Reserve units activated for the war against terrorism has been in effect since November 2002. Army officials announced June 1 the latest Active Army Stop Loss/Stop Movement Program for active Army units preparing for deployment overseas in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom remains in effect."

To: unclewest who wrote (178798)	12/26/2005 11:26:29 PM
From: geode00	Respond to of 281500

Forgot the link to that Stop Loss article pbs.org There's another piece from last year: "Thanks to this new reality, the Army National Guard missed its fiscal year recruiting goal by 5,000 people. Guard and Reserve units are being retrained in crash programs to fill active-duty shortfalls, sometimes by inexperienced trainers, since regular training units have been sent overseas. Morale and cohesion, which are the lifeblood of military units on the battlefield, are starting to erode, and we are on the cusp of a serious problem with the voluntary retention of experienced soldiers. The Army Research Institute projects that only 27 percent of Guard and Reserve soldiers intend to re-enlist—an all-time low." alternet.org