The Army is the lowest of the low on planet earth…

Ahhhh…. no. The lowest of the low are internet trolls. Looked in a mirror lately?

http://rokdrop.com/forums/topic.php?id=193

Best article I have seen on Afghanistan in a while.

The reason why some ANA cannot man a road block or go on patrol has nothing to do with training and more to do with will, corruption, and politics.

Most of the troops are ineffectual, tribal, and very illiterate. Teaching them to poop in a latrine is an issue, rather than wherever they want.

The very high ups are corrupt, stealing the food, fuel, building funds. Selling contracts, information and any item of value that they have access to. Its considered the spoils of war in Afganistan and an accepted practice.

The new recruits get trained, have no leadership, then quit.

Everything else is politics telling everyone the progress they have made.

War in Afganistan is an equal opportunity employer for both sides. No predudice over who dies, but lots of opportunity to make money.

I am sure the Army is optimistic that the poor economy will allow them to reduce their financial incentives to recruiting. But, I wanted to point out that, up until now, those programs have probably been a significant underlying factor in driving recruiting numbers, even for those in the specified above $40K income families.

As far as bonuses I have no problem with them when the US military has to compete for recruits in a strong economy. With the economy tanking, these bonuses are now going away:

Signing bonuses of $20,000 were common just a few years ago and available to almost any job field in the military. To get bonuses now, however, enlistees must have critical job skills in specified areas like legal, medical, technical or language.

"Bonuses are going away," Army recruiting regional overseer Capt. Hamblin said in a recent article by the Knight Ridder/Tribune news service. Hamblin, who oversees Army recruiting for Southeast and South Central Tennessee, part of North Georgia and North Alabama, said that due to the economy, more people are looking to join the military, making it more competitive for slots in the service. That means branches are now able be more picky when it comes to recruits.

<a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-25821-LA-Military-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m10d9-Military-branches-reducing-bonuses-becoming-pickier-in-recruiting

” target=”_blank”>http://www.examiner.com/x-25821-LA-Military-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m10d9-Military-branches-reducing-bonuses-becoming-pickier-in-recruiting

I wouldn't call Stars and Stripes or the writer Tom Philpott leftists doing a hit piece because they chose the less than rosy headline "Weak job market drives middle-class recruiting" as the title for the story.

I would like to see the aggregation of "military recruit" broken down a little more. And, don't just look at the outcome. Look at the process and the costs too. What sweeteners have to be added to get the results?

The Stars and Stripes article also had these numbers:

Forty percent of recruits in fiscal 2009 also were paid a signing bonus which can vary from $1,000 up to $40,000, Wicker said. In 2008, the average bonus was $24,300 for new soldiers, $16,600 for sailors, $11,000 for Marines and $9,000 for airmen. Those averages dipped slightly in 2009.

It seems the Army needed more sweetener per soldier than the others, so I took a look a the services' Bonus and Incentive programs: Army, Navy, Marine Corp, and Air Force.

Most bonuses are tied to high demand specialities the service members are qualified for. Not so much in the Army. The Army Advantage Fund (AAF); a trial program that offers $25K to $40K for just completing a 3 to 5 year term of enlistment! Another program called the High School Senior Deferred Enlistment Bonus or Future Soldier Training Program, I had to reread several times to be sure I wasn't misunderstanding it:

The Deferred Enlistment Bonus pays qualified high school seniors who enlist in the active Army $1,000 for each month they are in the Future Soldier Training Program. HS Seniors receive an additional $1,000 to the total amount upon successful High School graduation. The total Deferred Enlistment Bonus may not exceed $14,000.

This bonus may not be combined with the seasonal bonus, but it may be combined with an MOS bonus and the Montgomery GI Bill and Army College Fund.

Note: High School seniors currently affiliated with the Army National Guard or Army Reserve are not eligible for this program.

So let me get this straight. A kid who is already a high school senior talks to a recruiter and signs up for the program. From then on he gets $1000 a month until he graduates and then another $1000 upon graduation. Not to exceed $14K!

When I went to high school, the school year was from September to June; 10 months. So, maybe we have to grant that some kids may be a little slow and need remedial help over the summer to finish. But that sure sounds like an awful expensive way to recruit high school graduates.

My main point is, the full picture of military recruiting and retention is more multidimensional and nuanced than any set of numbers or results can show. It's definitely not as simple as suggesting kids are becoming more patriotic and gung ho.

One of the goals in Afghanistan is to train their security forces. When we go on a training mission don't we train the trainers? (Afghans) and then wouldn't THEY do the future training?

And why is it so hard to train someone to man a roadblock or go out on patrol?

I know that there is a problem in that 80% of the population cannot read or write but that would not affect the average soldier except for the NCO's and officers.