Despite projected retention goals being met for Fiscal 
    Year 2006, an article in The New York Times on Monday led 
    with, “Young Army officers, including growing numbers of 
    captains who leave as soon as their initial commitment is 
    fulfilled, are bailing out of active-duty service at 
    rates that have alarmed senior officers.” The article 
    goes on to talk about “worsening numbers.” 

    Those opposed to our efforts in Iraq are having great fun 
    talking about what the first few paragraphs of the story 
    say. What they skirt are the hard facts, several paragraphs
    down into the piece, that mention 9.3 percent of the Army’s
    young officers were opting out in 2001 before the 9/11 
    terrorist attacks. That number decreased after the attacks
    (the result of a burst of “patriotic fervor”). Now it has 
    inched back up – naturally the prospect of hard, multiple 
    deployments will do that - to 8.6 percent in 2005, but 
    still fewer opt-outs than in 2001.